Hello Pirate Family,

My name is Jazzmine Johnson, and I am a sophomore shooting guard, majoring in Broadcast Communication. Unfortunately, I had knee surgery back in the summer, which held me out a majority of the non-conference schedule, but I’ve been back now for over a month and to play and help my team has been truly a blessing. I am very excited to be playing this year and contributing to the team.

Just last week, your women’s and men’s basketball teams had the opportunity to go into different student dorm rooms and encourage our student body to come out and support our upcoming games. It was a great moment to bond as an athletic group and also be able to mingle with our Seton Hall students. This simple meet and greet helped create a great atmosphere in our fight against DePaul.

As we reach our last full month of the season, I want to say just how much we will miss our two seniors, Jasmine Crew and Tajay Ashmeade. It’s been an honor to play with these the past two years. (Our team has nicknamed them Spongebob and Gary.) They have helped me mature as an individual and as an athlete. They’ve also helped to bring some moments of laughter, including one time at a rest stop following one of our games. Tajay had a rap battle with this random guy with Jasmine as her sidekick. It is times like this where you really appreciate the opportunities to just goof around and have fun as a team. Even Coach Donovan laughed hysterically.  Our team has done a great job bonding, coming together, and helping one another.

Thank you for taking the time out to read what has been going on with your Pirates and please continue to support your Pirates!

For more information about our team and schedule, check us out on www.shupirates.com and:

Hello Pirate Fans!

My name is Elaine Swaby. I am a returning sophomore on the team, majoring in Biology. Your Pirates started this season off strong, but lately have been struggling to get things back on the right track. Winter break was great because we just had to focus on basketball! Now, classes have started back and we’re trying to get back into the groove of handling school and basketball.

We are still on the hunt for our first win in the “Big Beast” as Coach Donovan likes to call it. Practices have been intense and we are pushing each other to get better.

Before the Syracuse game, we held an alumni brunch that invited the former Seton Hall women’s basketball players back to get to know the team. It was an opportunity for our alumni to see what has come of the program since they played and also a time for our team to meet some of the players of our school’s history. Through the event, the alumni were able to see the vision of Coach Donovan and the coaching staff: to bring the program back to its winning ways it once had! It was nice to meet the players who came before us and helped paved the way for us to be here today. It helped us realize how far women’s basketball has come and how blessed we are to be in the position we are today. One of our alumni told a story of how the women’s basketball team would have to wait for the all men sport teams to practice before they were allowed to use the gym. Practices would sometimes start at midnight and many times, the only lights in the gym would come from outside the window. The story reminded us how far women have come and how much respect women as a whole have gained over the years. It was a great experience to meet some of our alumni and I would like to personally thank them on behalf of our team and our coaches for attending the event. We really appreciate their support and the knowledge they passed onto us.  

For more information about our team and schedule, check us out on www.shupirates.com and:

For more information about our team and schedule, check us out on www.shupirates.com and:

For more information about our team and schedule, check us out on www.shupirates.com and:

Greetings & Salutations to all of our Pirate Fans!!

My name is Breanna Jones and I am a transfer/walk-on. I am a junior and a Biology/ Environmental Science major who hails from the Northern Va./ D.C. area. 

I transferred to Seton Hall last year from Hampton University and sat out the 2010-2011 season, but I didn’t let that keep me out of the gym or from participating with the team!  I joined the practice squad and knew I had to be a part of this organization! This year is totally different because I now have the privilege of donning a Seton Hall uniform. I am proud to represent my team and my school.  It’s the BIG EAST baby!!!

I have to admit, being with the team full-time has added a lot to my workload. Being a student-athlete is not easy – my plate is certainly full this year, so time management is a must to keep me from dropping the ball so to speak. With the help of our dedicated athletics department, the team is able to stay focused on our primary objectives here at Seton Hall:  books and basketball. After those two boxes are checked we can use our free time to do whatever we please – for me, that would be eating and sleeping!  The team and coaching staff work hard every day to get better—not only individually, but as a unit – understanding that each of us is a vital part of our overall success. We use each day as an opportunity to know each other better and to transfer that familiarity into synergy for maximum effectiveness on the court. We understand that every drill, every set, and every sprint (yes, I said sprint) we execute helps us achieve our goal of being better than last year. I have had the honor of meeting a few legends in my short life, but having the opportunity to play for Hall of Famer Anne Donovan tops the list. Every day is a new adventure and I look forward to learning all I can under her leadership.

Being a Pirate is more than just hoisting anchors, swabbing decks and…wait, I’m sorry, wrong Pirate.  Being a Seton Hall Pirate is more than just putting on a uniform with our last name and number on the back. Being a SHU Pirate means dedication, commitment and a laser focus on our motto:  “One Team. One Goal. Believe.” No matter the obstacle, we can achieve it if we all work together.

For more information about our team and schedule, check us out on www.shupirates.com and:

Hello Pirate Fans! My name is Nicosia Henry and I am a returning guard here at Seton Hall University. I am a sophomore majoring in Graphic Design. The season is finally here and practice has started for us. We have been working diligently in practice, focusing on the things we need to get better this year.

We started practice on Sunday, October 2, and we have already had some funny moments. During one practice, we were going through a live drill when Terry Green stepped on Tajay’s foot (the problem was it was the foot that Tajay had already hurt in a prior practice). There were a couple parts to this story: Tajay was standing in an area on the court where she wasn’t supposed to be and Terry had stepped on the foot that Tajay had hurt in an earlier practice. So when Terry did this, Tajay immediately started screaming so loud. I just wish you were there because it was the way that she screamed that was funny.

Another funny moment comes from our walk-on Breanna Jones. We have never had anybody on our team that sweats as much as Breanna. She had been standing for awhile in one area that not only was she drenched in sweat, head to toe, like she had come out of a swimming pool, but she had made a puddle on the floor. We all definitely got a laugh out of these two moments, something that we’ll remember throughout the season. But as we talk about sweat, we know that it comes from hard work and it will all pay off in the end, leading to success.

Not only is this program attacking on the court, but off the court in our academics as well. We have been diligent in our classes, attending study hall and tutoring sessions.

Each player is determined to live out our team motto for the year:  “One Team. One Goal.  Believe. ” We plan to live by this motto on the court, in our classes, and all phases of our lives. Thanks to all the fans for taking the time out to read my blog. Please stay in touch and be sure to come out and support us!

For more information about our team and schedule, check us out on www.shupirates.com and:

Hey Pirate Fans!!!

I would like to welcome you to my “Day in the Life of a Pirate” blog. My name is Alexis Brown, and I am a freshman point guard from Jacksonville, Fla. I am very excited about the upcoming season, but I think I’m even more ecstatic to play for Coach Anne Donovan. If you don’t already know, Coach Donovan was the HEAD COACH for the LIBERTY, NEW YORK’S WNBA TEAM!! She coached Cappie Pondexter (Jasmine Crew’s favorite player), Kia Vaughn, and Essence Carson.

Since I’ve been here, I have experienced different things. For example, this might sound weird, but although I’m from Florida, I’ve never been in a hurricane. So being in Hurricane Irene was something totally new to me. I first found out that Hurricane Irene was going to hit Jacksonville and I got really scared because the majority of my family lives there. But then I found out that the course had changed and Hurricane Irene was heading straight for me! I wouldn’t say that I was scared, but rather I was more nervous than anything. I didn’t know what to stock up on, so I grabbed A LOT OF JUNK FOOD, water, and Gatorade. But other than that, I was completely lost!!

The transition of high school to college is actually not hard. It’s more of a mind over matter thing if not anything else. Managing your time can be challenging, but other than that, it is fairly easy. Nothing I can’t handle! One tip I want to give is to pick your clothes out the night before! I know it sounds like sixth grade, but it helps when you try to get those extra 10 minutes of sleep in. I usually begin my day with a loud groan because the alarm clock just went off. Get washed and get dressed. Then it’s either to class or study hall followed by class. Go eat lunch and grab a snack for my next class. Go to the locker room. PRACTICE! Go get something to eat. Go back to my dorm. Do my homework if I haven’t done it already. Shower. Sleep. REPEAT! This should get you excited for our upcoming season!

For more information about our team and schedule, check us out on www.shupirates.com and: