Pirates’ rout of St. John’s highlights upside of NCAA Tournament potential

Tony Bozzella addresses media after win over St. John’s. (Photo by Ray Floriani/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jaden Daly (@jadendaly) and Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — For all the hype surrounding a Seton Hall team that entered Wednesday's clash with local rival St. John’s having won nine of its last ten before meeting the undefeated and 23rd-ranked Red Storm, a 12-round heavyweight fight was expected inside historic Walsh Gymnasium.

What ensued was a stunning knockout and a master class by the host coach who continues to extract every last drop from a team capable of making the NCAA Tournament after a runner-up finish in last year’s WNIT. 

“We both have really good teams this year, and we knew we had to play our best game of the year,” Tony Bozzella said after the Pirates obliterated St. John’s, 72-51. “We did. We got St. John’s out of rhythm, they couldn’t get back into rhythm, and that’s a tribute to our defense and the way the kids played. We beat a very talented, very well-coached team that is an NCAA Tournament team, as are we.”

“Joe (Tartamella)’s done a great job of running a lot of great sets this year, isolating his players with their great skills. We couldn’t allow that, and if we did allow that, we knew we were going to have a problem defending them. So we had to push them out and make things uncomfortable, and just get them out of rhythm. At the beginning of every quarter, that was a big test for us and we had to make sure we passed that test.”

And while the game’s stars were what you would expect — Lauren Park-Lane and Sidney Cooks each tallied double-doubles, Amari Wright was a major factor, erupting for a career-best 17 points and seven steals off the bench.

“She was obviously fantastic,” Bozzella said of Wright’s tour de force. “I said Amari would start at nine of the other ten teams in our league at point guard, not because they don’t have great point guards, but because she is a great point guard. You're seeing the Amari Wright that we recruited, and really is a heck of a basketball player. I’m proud of her, because it’s only about winning with Amari. It’s never about anything else.”

Tartamella, in an attempt to capitalize on a size mismatch, placed 5-foot-10 senior Jayla Everett on Park-Lane in the opening minutes to give the Red Storm a tactical advantage. It didn’t work, as Park-Lane carved up St. John’s to the tune of 15 points and 11 assists.

“She’s the best,” Bozzella said of his senior floor general. “We have some great players in the Big East, but I wouldn’t trade her for anybody. I love her as a person, and I love her as a player, a leader. She wants to win, she gets us ready to play. There’s no letup in practice, no like, ‘ah, I’m tired.’ We’re ready to go, and that’s because of Lauren.”

Seton Hall, who committed just 10 turnovers Wednesday while forcing 21, is playing disciplined, connected basketball at the most opportune of times, of great satisfaction to Bozzella with strong road games looming against Providence and Creighton to test the Pirates’ hot streak. 

“We better not turn the ball over,” he declared. “We’ve struggled with that early in the year, and I think we’re learning to value the ball, getting it into the right people’s hands, stepping to the ball and doing what we’re supposed to do. And on the other end, we’ve generated a lot of our points through them committing turnovers. That’s big. While we scored 72 (Wednesday), probably about 32 of them came from stealing the ball and scoring.”

“We’re excited because we’ve played well. We feel we’re a very good basketball team, and I think that’s a big thing for the kids. Everyone’s working, and we’re a fun team to watch. I mean, (Park-Lane) is worth the price of admission herself, but everybody is. And these kids really love each other.”