For Seton Hall’s Savannah Catalon, leadership goes beyond the box score

In 38 minutes played, Seton Hall’s leading scorer (14.6 ppg) notched just five points on 1-for-8 shooting from the field, including 0-for-4 from beyond the arc in a 58-48 win over the Friars. When asked about her performance postgame, the scrappy, 5’8 guard responded in a confident, matter-of-fact manner.

“I already know that not every game is going to be my game, and tonight, it was not my day, but I knew that I just had to get my other teammates going, and Jordana [Codio] got going, Zahara [Bishop] got going a little bit. So I knew that if I kept them in their game … I knew that we would pull out the win even though it was ugly,” Catalon told The IX Basketball.

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Since arriving as a freshman for the 2023-24 season, Catalon has been an impact player for the Pirates on both ends of the floor. She appeared in 31 games her first season, making three starts and averaging 7.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 22.8 minutes per game. She was a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team and named Seton Hall Freshman Female Co-Athlete of the Year.

As a sophomore last season, despite missing around six weeks to injury, Catalon was named an All-Met Honorable Mention by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association. In 24 games played (all starts), she averaged 13.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 steals in 30.0 minutes per game.

She also broke two program records: most steals in a game (11) and most free throws without a miss (16-for-16). Her defensive output (4.1 steals per game) would have put in her strong position for BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year had she played a full season.

Now, as a junior, Catalon sets the tone for a new-look Pirates team that includes eight newcomers, including four true freshmen. She leads by example — diving for loose balls, being vocal in huddles and wearing opponents down with her defensive intensity.

“A leadership role isn’t new to me,” Catalon told The IX Basketball. “I was a leader all four years of my high school, and then this is my second year leading at the collegiate level,” Catalon told The IX Basketball. “So I just learned to embrace it, because I see that my teammates, the younger ones … have kind of looked up to me as a veteran of this program.”

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Catalon embodies the grit and tenacity of Seton Hall women’s basketball, which has been coached for 12 seasons by fiery Seton Hall alum Tony Bozzella. As a starting guard, Catalon is an extension of Bozzella on the court and credits him as the spirit of the Pirates program.

“He’s a really high intensity guy, but I feel like that’s what helps this team be successful because when he’s like upbeat … that helps the team go, and helps us push forward even when things aren’t going our way, and I think that says a lot about our team — how much resilience we have,” Catalon told The IX Basketball.

It helps that Bozzella’s staff is stacked with guards who were themselves poised leaders during their collegiate careers.

“You have to remember, I have two tremendous point guards — former point guards — on my staff, [Shakena Richardson] and [Ka-Deidre Simmons] … There’s a lot of experience there.” Bozzella told The IX Basketball on BIG EAST media day in October.

Both Seton Hall alum, Simmons (2010-2011; 2012-15) and Richardson (2015-16) left their own respective marks on the program. Simmons, an assistant coach, guided the Pirates to a national ranking, a BIG EAST co-regular season championship and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 20 years in 2015. 

Richardson, director of basketball operations, competed with the Pirates for her graduate season — earning BIG EAST All-Conference Honorable Mention and becoming the first Pirate to ever be selected in the WNBA Draft when she was taken No. 30 overall by the Dallas Wings in 2016.

“Having people to look up to like that and coach me, it means a lot because they’ve been through the program [and] they know what it is to play under Coach [Bozzella], and I can say that learning from them has really helped me, because they’ve literally experienced what I’m going through right now,” Catalon said.

At the midway point of the season, the 11-2 (5-1 BIG EAST) Pirates, are firmly in the top tier of the conference. Next up they face Marquette — who shares identical overall and conference records — with a chance to break the tie for the third overall spot in the BIG EAST. Sitting at No. 44 in the NET Rankings and firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble, Seton Hall is well positioned for a possible return to the NCAA Tournament this postseason, Catalon’s dynamism and leadership are big reasons why.

“I know a lot of the ins and outs of this program,” Catalon said. “So I just take that and I try to teach those younger ones the way.”

The IX Basketball’s Howard Megdal contributed reporting to this story.

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