December 30th, 2016: St. John's at Seton Hall

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Two teams both alike in dignity dug down deep in the fourth quarter for defensive stops, but in the end, Seton Hall came out on top of St. John's, 64-59. JaQuan Jackson had 18 points to lead the Pirates. Jade Walker of St. John's led all scorers with 21.

For a key reserve, alumnae, heart-meltingly adorable kidlets, the student and the teacher, rocking the red, being among the family, and defensive stops, join your intrepid and Shakespearean blogger after the jump.

Big East conference season is underway, and you know what that means. It's round one of the Awkward Bowl, as St. John's pays a visit to Seton Hall.

So far, only a couple of double-takes, but I'm trying really hard not to make eye contact with Lubirdia Gordon. I don't like having post players angry at me, and Bird is... loyal to her team to an extreme.

The husband, as always when we visit Walsh, is on the Seton Hall side in SHU colors. I'm behind the St. John's bench in my red.

Aria, when did you get so tall? Weren't you, like, itty bitty a second ago? Her playmate is adorable, stretching with the team and everything. (Her playmate is Tasha Pointer's kidlet, who promptly glomped Brady Tartamella as soon as the family arrived. Kidlets everywhere!)

Also, judging from the interactions between Tiana England's family and Da'Shena, everyone in Connecticut is within two degrees of separation from each other, so maybe this wearing 3 thing will work out okay. (No, wait. That still leaves All-Big East Angela Clark and all-time program scoring leader Aliyyah Handford. Seriously, why did we hand out the most decorated number in team history to a freshman with Aliyyah barely out the door?)

So far we have Conn-tingent 2.0 and Aaliyah's family. (For heaven's sake, Aaliyah, put on some clothes, stop running around in your undershirt, there are cameras everywhere.)

At least one member of the SHU Sign Mafia is here. That's good; they’ve been flaking on big games. Of course, I haven't actually seen any of the signs in action.

This is going to be so awkward. It always is. There are people who get the split thing, and people who don't, and never the twain shall meet. Though so far the awkwardness has been minimal, mostly because I'm trying not to make eye contact with too many people.

Nadirah. Look. You're one of my all time favorites. I will fight every Prahalis stan on the Internet to protect your honor. But I cannot and will not defend the dreadlocks you have so inexpertly woven into your hair. No. No on so many levels of does not fit you.

She's not the only alumna in the house. Embarrassingly, I only recognized Aliyyah Handford because I saw her mom first. Seton Hall also has a couple of former players in the house, and the Awkward Bowl could end up being suuuuuper awkward if Janee Johnson actually recognizes me. I think she was with one of the Simmonses (Simmonii?).

At halftime, it's 31-31. It's been competitive. It's been tight. It's been a little chippy. There's been some psychological gamesmanship. You know. The usual. Jade Walker has 10 for St. John's; Lubirdia Gordon has 8 for Seton Hall. I suspect one or both will finish this game disqualified.

Akina, dear, Tony doesn't play for us. Passing him the ball is not a good plan. Akina, dear, Claire doesn't play for us. Akina, dear, Deja doesn't play for us. Akina, stop passing Seton Hall the fardling ball.

That was emotionally wrenching and draining. My hands hurt and I never got my drink at halftime because the line was ridiculous. My throat hurts, my hands hurt, and my feet hurt, and it still wasn't enough. Now I have to buy my husband dinner. :/

Plans that involve Aaliyah Lewis not being on the floor are bad plans, Joe. Everyone knows that as soon as Aaliyah comes off the floor, it's time to bring the pressure, because we have one ballhandler and her name is Aaliyah.

O HAI Iona DOBO. If Stephanie or Ang show up, I think we have bingo. Or maybe Yahtzee.

D'awwww, Shadeen and girlfriend and kidlet of some variety. I like kids as long as they're either well-behaved or far away from me.

We need a reliable bench. And we need another ballhandler, but I brought that up already. So far it's not Andrayah Adams, who's a solid shooter but needs to be a little more fearless. (And is also not Danaejah Grant, who is also at the game. I'm still not used to the casual hugging thing.) So far it's also not Crystal Simmons, whose shooting has actually regressed- I swear she's trying to shoot a right-handed free throw with her left hand. I love Crystal's defense, and she's our best weapon against Seton Hall's backcourt, but offensively she's a liability.

We went three-guard set a lot, because our reserve forwards were... not helpful. Jordan Agustus got a very short stretch in the first half, proved nothing, and sat down. Maya Singleton missed bunnies and let rebounds go through her hands. Neither of these are conducive to earning additional playing time, nor are they conducive to winning.

Alisha Kebbe's shot must have been waiting for the 31 bus, because it didn't show up until the fourth quarter. She stepped up defensively as well. She's got to be more consistent on her shot through contact, and somehow she needs to get some of the spin out of it. It's a strange thing to say for someone who was one board shy of a double-double, but Akina Wellere was playing scared out there. She was repeatedly backing off three-point shots that she could have taken. Part of that was the Seton Hall defense making sure she couldn't get the exact spot she wanted, and she kept hesitating. What worried me more was her passing- she was consistently throwing the ball to the other team, which tells me she's either telegraphing her passes or she's not putting enough mustard on them. Aaliyah Lewis was fearless driving into the lane, but she can't be both the facilitator and the secondary scoring option at the same time. She was ruthless on defense, as well. Freshmen should not attempt to cross over seniors.

Imani Littleton slipped back into that mode she has sometimes where she doesn't seem to give a damn. It happens sometimes. She gets lackadaisical and she doesn't go hard for rebounds. She had a really nice one in the first half that turned into a basket, but for the most part, she seemed way too comfortable letting the game come to her instead of seizing control. Jade Walker was bound and determined to put on a show in her final game in New Jersey, and so she did. The big girl took a lot of smart shots and hit them, and she took way too much contact from Lubirdia Gordon. I'm sorry, Bird, but I really don't like you right now. Please to not be trying to elbow Jade in the face.

Seton Hall still has trouble with the press- the guards can do fancy stuff with the ball, but they can't maintain control of it consistently when they face pressure. Their matchup zone was great- really slowed down our offense and forced us to do too much thinking.

Coach Bozzella threw some spaghetti at the wall in the first half with Kaity Healy and Martha Kuderer. Martha looked very lost on defense. Kaity was ineffective. Jayla Jones-Pack got some extended run, but didn't do very much with it.

Jordan Molyneaux gave good minutes in the post, but defensively she wasn't a good match for Jade. Tall and slim doesn't work against a more substantial build. She rebounded well, but missing at the rim isn't a good look. Same for Shadeen Samuels, though apparently her knee was bothering her. She had a couple of brilliant open looks and blew them. Her strength in the post impresses me, and if her knee ever recovers properly she'll be amazing. Deja Winters had a strong game, especially beyond the arc- she's a streaky shooter, but when she's on, oh boy is she on. She made a couple of big defensive plays in the fourth as well, intercepting passes and hustling.

Dear St. John's: I don't know if you've noticed this, but Claire Lundberg shoots threes real good. It's her strongest skill. Leaving her open, or leaving poor Tiny Aaliyah alone to cover her, is not the world's greatest plan, and I suspect that the four-point play was the real turning point of the game. She also had one really nice rebound, but overall, anyone who's scouted SHU knows that she's out there to shoot. Lubirdia Gordon got good position down low, both offensively for putbacks and defensively for rebounds. She and Jade really mixed it up. Jade did not approve, though to be fair, most people do not approve of other people's elbows approaching their face. (Not that Jade didn't give almost as good as she got.)

I was looking forward to seeing Kaela Hilaire trying to take on Aaliyah Lewis. I was not disappointed. Their styles are very similar, as are their on-court demeanors, and fast-moving guards with swagger are very fun to see take each other on. The difference was experience. KK wasn't ready for Aaliyah, but I think she knows who she wants to be when she grows up now. Kaela dished well, but when she tried to do fancy dribbling, that ball was gone. Don't break your own ankles. LaTecia Smith was quick in the passing lanes and fearless on the drive. She didn't call her own number as much as she normally does, which is a good thing. Sometimes TT and KK both get too much into their own heads. Good things happen for Seton Hall when JaQuan Jackson gets open, and we gave her way too much space too often. She made her own offense too, off steals and fast breaks.

Who does the "stomp around with arms out and an incredulous expression, daring the official to call a tech" routine after a dubious foul? Quanny or Tiny Aaliyah? There's more of JaQuan to emote with, but Aaliyah might be louder. As always, there were a few dubious calls, but ultimately they didn't affect the course of the game, unless they affected someone's headspace.

The crowd really got into it when it got close and Seton Hall was making moves. We need more of that at Walsh. It has the potential to be an insane noise box, and the fans don't live up to that potential nearly often enough. (Hey, man, I try, especially when I'm rocking the blue.)

This rivalry should be very interesting this year, and you know I'll be keeping an eye on both of my teams.