The Seton Hall Pirates fell to the Creighton Bluejays in the Quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, 72-65.
In a crazy coincidence, the same exact teams that have played each other in now four consecutive Big East Tournament Quarterfinals, put up the same exact score as their matchup is Walsh Gymnasium about a week ago.
While this dashes the Pirates hopes of a deep Big East Tournament run, their season shouldn’t be over just yet. Hopes to make the WBIT are still alive and well.
Much like senior night, the Pirates jumped out to an early lead and the game went back and forth through three quarters. Micah Gray was a flamethrower, knocking down three threes in the first quarter. Once again, the Pirates shot extremely well from deep, going 8-of-15 on the night.
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Scoring slowed down for both squads in the second quarter, but Seton Hall’s Kae Satterfield was able to chip in with seven points, including swishing her second made three of the year.
You knew that a veteran squad like Creighton wasn’t going to go away, and they showcased how important experience is in the second half. Even with All-Big East First Teamer Emma Ronsiek having another rough night against the Hall, the combined efforts of Lauren Jensen, Morgan Maly, and Molly Mogensen killed the Pirates chance at an upset.
One stat that immediately jumps out at you was the free throw disparity. The Bluejays shot 27 free throws, while the Pirates were only able to get eight. It’s not like these free throws all came at the end of the game either. It was a consistent source of scoring for Creighton, as it has been all year – they are the best free throw shooting team in the country after all.
It was a back-and-forth game through the first three quarters, but you just kind of knew that Creighton was going to be able to pull this one out. When Jensen went on a person 5-0 run just a minute into the fourth, it put the Pirates down eight and in a close game like this one, eight points felt like 15.
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Nonetheless, the Pirates season won’t be done. They will more than likely still play some basketball in the WBIT when that bracket gets revealed. As for the Creighton, they play against Georgetown tomorrow, who is fresh off upsetting the number three seeded St. John’s Red Storm.