Pirates Snack on Turnovers in Win over Butler

Chris Russo

January 30, 2025

Seton Hall’s women’s basketball team again defied the Big East’s preseason poll with a 71-48 win over Butler on Wednesday.

The Pirates dictated the game through stout defense, forcing 28 turnovers while only committing 12 en route to a regular season sweep of the Bulldogs. Perhaps the most telling stat was that Butler’s leading scorer this season, Kilyn McGuff, took 29 minutes to record her first bucket.

Although the game was one-sided from start to finish, Seton Hall took control via a 23-0 run over the course of 13:18 in the first half, with Faith Masonius only on the floor for approximately four minutes of that stretch. On that run, Butler went 0 for 11 from the field and committed 12 turnovers before scoring the first points of the second quarter with under a minute remaining in the half.

Masonius’ evening was a bit below average, as she fouled out after 12 points and four rebounds, but Savannah Catalon took over with a game-high 15 points and six steals.

“In practice, we always work with positioning and we take a lot of pride in our positioning,” Catalon explained as to how the team finished with a season-high 19 steals.

Jada Eads finished with five of those steals, including four in the first half, and joined Masonius & Catalon in double figures in scoring. She epitomized the Pirates’ hustle with a second quarter play where she followed a missed three and finished an and-one all in one motion.

“We have the team to be there, and we want it every day,” Eads said of the team’s NCAA Tournament hopes.

Of the Pirates’ nine remaining regular season games, only two come against teams with better records (Creighton & UConn), giving the Pirates a realistic chance of a 20+ win campaign, something they have not accomplished in three years.

That road starts with only two days’ rest before an away matchup Saturday against DePaul.