Credit: Seton Hall Women's Basketball
Pirates Drop to High-Flying No. 23 Creighton Bluejays in BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals, 73-44
Published: Monday, March 10, 2025
by C.J. Weipz
UNCASVILLE, Conn – The Seton Hall Pirates (22-9 OVR, 13-5 CONF) lost in dominating fashion to the three-seed Creighton Bluejays (26-5 OVR, 16-2 CONF) 73-44 on Sunday night. The Bluejays drilled over 50% of the 3-point field goal attempts, including a five-for-five start from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
“We are not a great 3-point shooting defense...it's something that I have done a really poor job of coaching this year,” Coach Tony Bozzella said following the loss.
First-team all-conference guard Lauren Jensen propelled the Bluejays to an early lead with 10 points in the first frame, notching two 3-point buckets and forcing Tony Bozzella to call two first quarter timeouts.
The Bluejays defense kept the Pirates at bay, holding them to just six points in the first quarter and disrupting many offensive sets. Faith Masonius led the way with four points while showing off her deep bag-of-tricks in the post, while Jada Eads scored a layup of her own.
Following a massive opening quarter, Jim Flanery’s squad had trouble adding onto their lead for the next 20 minutes. Seton Hall’s defense brought the red-hot shooting Bluejays to just four of their next 13 from the field. Defense turned to offense as the Pirates cut the lead down from 17 in the first quarter to just 11 by halftime. Key 3-point baskets from Savannah Catalon and Kaydan Lawson at the end of the half gave the underdog Pirates some momentum heading into half.
However, the energy would be short lived. Creighton came back in the third with a vengeance. Jensen, after a scoreless second period, dropped nine points on 50% shooting to close out her evening with a total of 19.
Morgan Maly had some nifty moves down low as well, scoring six of her 14 points in the third. Eads drilled her first three of the tournament, but it came too late. The lead had already ballooned up to 15 for Creighton heading into the final frame.
Creighton would hang on to win with a comfortable 29-point margin and will face top-seeded UConn in the BIG EAST finals later tonight.
As for the Pirates, Coach Bozzella is looking forward to a week of rest before they find their next opponent. However, compared to his previous comments, Coach Bozzella admits that the squad’s tournament aspirations may be all but over.
“We had the opportunity of if we won today, we would be right there and we didn’t,” Bozzella said, “We’ll play in the [W]BIT, hopefully host a bunch of games, do what Villanova did and play for a championship this year.”
The Pirates will find out their future next Sunday at 7 p.m. during the NCAA D1 Women’s Basketball Selection Show. Catch coverage of both the men’s and women’s Selection Sunday shows on a special edition of Pirate Primetime on March 16 starting at 6 p.m. only on 89.5 FM WSOU.
C.J. Weipz is an Assistant Sports Director and can be reached at christopher.weipz@student.shu.edu.Posted in: sports,