December 20th, 2015: St. Peter's at Seton Hall

Just the Facts, Ma'am: After a slow first quarter, Seton Hall took control and defeated St. Peter's 81-65. Aleesha Powell led all scorers with 17, one of four Pirates in double figures. Tabatha Richardson-Smith added 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Shakena Richardson had 15 points and eight assists. Talah Hughes had a team-high 15 points and six rebounds off the bench for St. Peter's.

For mild inaccuracies, big hair, disconcerting the shooter, hissy fits, finding the big girls, backaches, shooting contests, bad shot selection, and escaping, join your intrepid and festive blogger after the jump.


Hello and welcome to one of the holiday editions of the Game Notes of Doom! Your intrepid blogger is up entirely too early and on the way to Seton Hall for a noon tip against St. Peter's. So far, knock on wood, public transit hasn't messed us up yet, but we've got two more transit authorities to interact with, so one never knows.

And PATH didn't disappoint in that regard, lagging for close to fifteen minutes due to unannounced single-track operation.

Seton Hall is not good at early games. The first quarter was a tie, and the Pirates are up eight at the half, 44-36. Aleesha Powell has 15, Shakena Richardson 11. It's been a sloppy game by both sides, with a lot of passes to nowhere and a lot of missed shots..

The refs are already under fire after not bothering to review a foul during which Aleesha Powell's head hit the stanchion. There was a legitimate chance to look at it as a flagrant, but they didn't even review.

Tab, I really do want to like you, but on days when you play like crap and you act like nothing is your fault, we're going to have problems.

I really wish Patty Coyle weren't the head coach at St. Peter's, because I think I could get to like some of their players. But I can't get past their coach and the failure she was as the Liberty coach. I hold grudges. I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Janae Mayfield came in right at the end of the game. Alyssa Velles saw minimal time at the end of both halves, launching a deep three that had no chance of doing anything. Rebecca Sparks ran point when Marcia Senatus was in foul trouble- she had one nice pass to one of the posts (I want to say Bethea) but was otherwise unremarkable. Janelle Mullen shows promise, but I feel like she's trying to play shorter than she is- she gets low to the ground and it looks uncomfortable for her. She's got some really slick moves, and I think she just needs to get comfortable in her skin. She's going to be something special for them, though.

Talah Hughes came off the bench first in the first half and really provided a spark for St. Peter's. She's fearless inside and has a good nose for the ball. Plus, let the record show I'm always a sucker for a player who can rock an Afro, even if it's just a mini-fro. I was less happy with her after the play where Aleesha went head-first into the stanchion on a hard foul, but I wasn't quite as convinced as everyone else that it was a flagrant. (But you still have to review, Aldrich, and the words "doesn't mean anything" should not come out of your mouth at any point during the conversation.) Neechelle Ingram poured in the points late and was solid in the middle. I think she was the one with the big fan group behind the Peahens'cocks' bench, because they got pretty loud when she was putting in buckets in the last two minutes.

Bridget Whitfield is vocal, and not always to her team's advantage- she barked the refs after a couple of out-of-bounds plays. I really like Marcia Senatus- she has a nifty knack for hesitation moves, getting her defender in the air, and creating space for herself.

Sajanna Bethea has no fear in the lane. She's not always accurate, but she uses her build well and gets the job done. Seton Hall did a better job in the second half of denying her the ball, and that helped power the second half for them. Hala Mostafa seemed less involved in the offense than the last time I saw St. Peter's, but that might just be the change in personnel and the emergence of Bethea and Hughes. Her shot is still very strange-looking. Samantha Meier showed off a midrange jumper, but her primary purpose in the offense seemed to be to set screens and picks to get their shooters open- she had a beautiful one to get Senatus free for a three.

I love when the deep bench players get to see some time. Claire Lundberg came in in the last couple of minutes and actually took a shot that was not a three! Do your thing, Claire! Martha Kuderer wasn't able to follow up her last good game with a strong performance here- she got lost on defense a lot. Taylor Byrne showed her nose for the ball, but for the most part, she was a step behind on getting to the glass. Jordan Molyneaux came in once Lubirdia Gordon got two fouls and proceeded to commit two of the quickest fouls I've ever seen in my life. She was back on the bench in short order, only returning when the game was in hand.

Jordan Mosley needs to learn when not to shoot, but other than being a bit of a ballhog near the end, she gave good minutes. LaTecia Smith flaunted her speed, especially her closing speed, disrupting the ballhandler from behind a few times with it and getting flashy steals. Her clock management is getting better, too. She drives the lane without fear. I love it.

Tabatha Richardson-Smith got out of her funk somewhat in the second half, but that might have been the worst 14-point performance I've ever seen in my life. She took ill-advised shots, both outside and in the lane. She rebounded well, but a lot of those were rebounds tipped to her by her teammates. Her defense was sorely lacking. I know I'm being hard on her, but I expect a lot from her- it's the only way I'm going to see her come summertime, and I believe that she could be there if she puts her mind to it. Tiffany Jones had an off game with some flashy plays, and I think she knew it was a bad game- she seemed pretty frustrated when she went to the bench for the last time. Lubirdia Gordon showed how useful she can be when she's on her game- all of our tiny guards were able to find her under the basket for easy lay-ups, and she blocked shots like there was no tomorrow.

Shakena Richardson picked us up early when we needed her. She used her speed to get the offense going on one end and keep the St. Peter's offense off balance at the other- there was one sequence where she disrupted the ballhandler to the point where Tiffany (I think) ended up with the steal. She didn't get credit for the steal, but she made it happen. Aleesha Powell went in with floaters and fearlessness. She was the catalyst, and not just because everyone wanted to get revenge for her.

Momentum-swinger: the oft-mentioned hit on Aleesha by Hughes. Aleesha came back to hit the free throws, and Seton hall found their offensive groove.

Best sequence of the game: Talah Hughes attempting a shot, having it blocked acrobatically by a flying Tab, not taking the hint from the universe, grabbing the loose ball, attempting to drive in the paint, and having the second shot rejected with authority by Bird.

I like the part where Coyle wigged out over Seton Hall calling timeout to maintain possession of a loose ball. She completely lost it. I just shook my head and laughed.

The band honored this weekend's big event by playing both the opening theme and the Imperial March from Star Wars.

The band also played "Uptown Funk". I see you dancing, JaQuan. Have fun.

We need to be crisper. We need to play smarter. We need to not be looking past St. Peter's to the Big East season. Because it's time for the BEasties to come out and play, and a game like this isn't going to cut it in the BEast. We can't keep jacking threes, we can't keep committing stupid fouls, we can't keep passing to the bench and the band, and most importantly, we can't keep not listening to the coach when he says things. (Unless "motion" is actually a codeword for "Tiffany, take a three with 23 seconds left on the shot clock.")