Pirates Set to Face No. 23 Creighton Bluejays in BIG EAST Tournament Semi-Finals

Published: Sunday, March 9, 2025

by C.J. Weipz

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – The Seton Hall women’s basketball team (22-8 OVR, 13-5 CONF) will take on the second-seeded Creighton Bluejays (25-5 OVR, 16-2 CONF) in the semi-final round of the BIG EAST conference tournament Sunday night.  

This will be the fifth year in a row that the two squads have met in the conference tournament, with Creighton owning wins in three of the four meetings. Both squads are looking to break a streak of nearly nine years since last playing for the title, with the winner facing the winner of No. 3 UConn and Villanova.  

The Pirates come into this matchup off the heels of another close game against the 11-seeded Xavier Musketeers. The final game of the quadruple header at Mohegan Sun Arena found coach Tony Bozzella's crew struggling to keep up offensively with the Musketeers in the first half.  

The Pirates shot just 4-26 from the field in the first half, with First Team All-Conference selection Faith Masonius and Savannah Catalon combining for just two made shots on 14 attempts. The defense held firm, however, only giving up 25 points in the first half to a Xavier team that scored 80 in their win over DePaul in the first round of the tournament. The Pirates entered the break down by 10 to the Musketeers.  

Things started to shift in the second half as the Pirates were able to force 19 second half turnovers as they applied their coveted press defense. The offense looked more respectable as well, with Yaya Lops getting in on the action with six points in the third quarter. First Team All-Big East and All-Freshman team member Jada Eads finally got on the board in her first game back from injury, making a crucial layup that kept the Pirates hanging around.  

The fourth quarter was all Seton Hall as the Musketeers only scored two points to the Pirates 17, including a 10-0 run to end the game. Lops, Eads, and Masonius all finished in double-digits, as the Pirates scrapped back from down by 12 to winning by eight with a final of 48-40. 

The Bluejays are coming into this one with a scare of their own, as the 10-seeded Georgetown Hoyas gave them all they could handle in the 72-70 quarterfinal game. First-Team All-Conference selections Morgan Maly and Lauren Jensen combined 42 of the teams 72 points. The best 3-point shooting team in the conference went down by 10 at halftime but slowly started to chip away at the Hoya lead. 

Georgetown, riding the high of Kelsey Ransom’s 36-point performance in the opening round, could not find their rhythm to end the game, giving up the ball nine times in the second half to an energized Creighton defense. The Bluejays continued to battle back and got the game tied with less than a minute to play.  

After a pair of Ransom free-throws, Creighton took the ball back down the court, but a costly foul by Georgetown’s Victoria Rivera put Kiani Lockett at the line to give the Bluejays the lead. The final possession for the Hoyas fell short and top-ranked Bluejays avoided the upset by the skin of their teeth. 

The game tonight will tip-off at 5 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 4:30 p.m. You can listen live on 89.5 FM WSOU or online at WSOU.net. Jack Pine and Lauren Reese will be on the call, on the flagship station for Seton Hall women’s basketball.  

C.J. Weipz is an Assistant Sports Director and can be reached at christopher.weipz@student.shu.edu. 

 

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