Mohegan Sun—-Lauren Park-Lane scored game 21 points, along with three boards and two steals for the No. 6 seed Seton Hall (18-11) to beat No. 11 Butler (1-27) 58-39 on Friday in the first round of the Big East Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Pirates ranked up their defensive pressure and held the Bulldogs to second-half points.
SHU jumped out to a 9-0 lead to begin the contest, but then they went ice cold. The Pirates hit one of their next nine shots to allow the Bulldogs to get within three points, 12-9. Park-Lane drained a jumper just before the buzzer and the Pirates went up 14-9 after the first 10 minutes.
The Pirates’ shot a woeful 27.8% in the second quarter. A Butler 10-2 run gave them their first lead of the contest, 24-22, with 1:06 left before the break. A Cooks jumper tied the score and sent the teams into the locker room knotted at 24.
Seton Hall limited the Bulldogs to just four points and 2-for-9 shooting in the third quarter. SHU out-scored the Butler, 16-to-4, in the third, scoring the first 11 points of the second half.
In the second half, the Pirates scored the first 11 points of the half, which included a pair of deep threes by Park-Lane, pushing the lead to 35-24 with 4:39 left in the third quarter. Seton Hall held the Bulldogs to just 2-for-9 shooting in the third quarter and led, 40-28, entering the fourth. Butler couldn’t draw closer than a 15-point deficit the rest of the way.
Sidney Cooks scored 13 points and eight boards, Mya Bembry had 12 points and eight rebounds while Andra Espinoza-Hunter had seven points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals for Seton Hall which advances to play third-seeded Creighton in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Sydney Jaynes scored 10 points and five rebounds for Butler.
Game Notes:
- Seton Hall improves to 18-11 overall and has now won 10 of its last 11 games, while Butler’s season comes to an end at 1-27.
- The Pirates improve to 15-3 all-time against Butler and have now won nine straight in the series.
- The Hall is now 26-37 all-time in BIG EAST Tournament games. The Pirates’ 26 wins is tied for the fourth-most in conference history. Seton Hall is now 2-0 all-time against Butler in the BIG EAST Tournament.
- Seton Hall improves to 8-0 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
- Park-Lane’s 20-point game is her 12th this season and the 18th of her career.
Up Next:
The six-seeded Pirates will now face third-seeded Creighton in the quarterfinals at 9:30 p.m. ET. The contest will be televised nationally on FS2.
