Seton Hall (13-4, 5-1 Big East) came into the Al McGuire Center 0-14 all-time. Behind an inspired defensive performance, the Pirates picked up their first win at Marquette (11-6, 3-3 Big East) 58-52 Wednesday night at the Al McGuire Center.

A game of runs

Seton Hall’s L’yanna Lops scored the first bucket of the game at the 8:48 minute mark of the first quarter.

After that, Marquette went on a 9-0 run over the next four minutes, led by Halle Vice’s three points and four rebounds — two of which were offensive and led to buckets.

Then Seton Hall responded with a 24-5 run of their own to take back a commanding 30-15 second-quarter lead.

Marquette weathered the storm going into halftime with a quick 6-4 spurt.

Seton Hall led 34-21 at the half.

In the middle of the third quarter, the Golden Eagles went on a 9-1 run, making the score 40-32.

After a Ja’kahla Craft made trey with 3:04 remaining in the third quarter, Marquette responded with a 4-0 run to end to the quarter, cutting the deficit to just seven.

The fourth quarter started with a back-and-forth affair, as both teams went bucket-for-bucket until Marquette cut it to 55-52 behind a 9-2 run, during which Forbes, Utberg and Volker each knocked down triples.

Marquette went scoreless after Volker’s three-pointer with 2:33 to go. Seton Hall closed out the 58-52 win with 3 straight points of its own.

Defense dominates

The Golden Eagles and the Pirates are both gritty, defensive-minded teams. That was on full display as Marquette held Seton Hall to 24-for-63 (38%) shooting and 5-of-17 (29%) from behind the arc. Marquette forced 13 Pirate turnovers and scored 10 points off those turnovers.

Seton Hall clamped down on the Golden Eagles though as well, holding them to 35 percent (19-for-54) and 7-of-22 from deep. The Pirates came in forcing an average of 20.1 turnovers per game and forced 19 Marquette turnovers, scoring 18 points off those giveaways. The Pirates are now 12-0 this season when giving up less than 70 points.

Rebounding

Marquette came in with the advantage on paper, averaging 40.6 rebounds per game to Seton Hall’s 34.1. However, Seton Hall held their own and out-rebounded Marquette 38-36.

Individual Performers

Marquette relied on its balanced scoring and rebounding throughout. Skylar Forbes scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds. Jaidynn Mason continued to produce, contributing 11 points and four assists. Halle Vice did a little bit of everything, putting up five points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Lee Volker led the Golden Eagles in scoring, dropping 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting.

Freshman Jada Eads led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-18, 12 of which were in the first half. She also added five rebounds.

Fifth-year senior Faith Masonius added 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists.