SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Ijeoma Uchendu and Loryn Goodwin each recorded a double-double against the Pirates on Tuesday night, but a late 5-0 scoring run from Seton Hall proved to be the difference as Butler took a tough 70-65 loss in their second BIG EAST contest of the season.

The Bulldogs trailed by just five points against the nationally-ranked Pirates with less than four minutes remaining in the second half. The Pirates came out of the break with a huge 3-point field goal from Janee Johnson, her only 3-point field goal of the game, to push the lead to eight. After a BU turnover the Pirate advantage would swell to 10 points with just 2:18 remaining.

Johnson scored nine of her 13 points in the second half, giving Seton Hall four players with 10 points or more. Daisha Simmons was the player of the game for the Pirates as she ended the night with 19 points, seven steals, five rebounds and four assists.

"Seton Hall's ability to penetrate and break people down is part of what makes them so good," Head Coach Kurt Godlevske stated. "We were really focused on trying to keep the Simmons girls [Daisha and Ka-Deidre] under control along with Richardson-Smith [Tabataha]. At times we did a nice job of keeping them on the perimeter and limiting them as a team to just one shot per possession."

Butler outrebounded Seton Hall 50-41 in part to a strong effort from Uchendu and Goodwin. Uchendu reached the 20 rebound plateau for the second time this season while Goodwin hauled down 10 from her guard position. Goodwin was also Butler's top threat offensively with 20 points.

"Loryn [Goodwin] had a solid game," Godlevske noted. "She didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but she helped us on the boards. To go on the road and outrebound a very athletic… big team is good for us moving forward. I thought our kids did a really nice job with that."

Goodwin was all over the court on Tuesday as she also led the team with seven assists and three steals.

The Bulldogs got 10 points from Uchendu and Blaire Langlois while Sydney Buck chipped in with nine and Andriana Moore came off the bench for eight.

"Offensively, at times I believe that we showed what we are capable of but we still have lapses," Godleveske said. "They seem to come at crucial times and I recall a few possessions where we were still right there in it, but we came up empty."

Empty possessions ruined Butler's attempt at an upset as the team posted 19 turnovers. Ball pressure from Daisha Simmons would disrupt the offensive flow at times and a full-court, trapping press defense was responsible for more Butler miscues down the stretch.

Seton Hall scored 23 points off Butler mistakes as they escaped with a five-point victory. With a late second 3-point field goal at the buzzer from Langlois, Butler outscored Seton Hall 35-33 in the final 20 minutes of action.

The loss takes Butler to 4-9 on the year with a 0-2 mark against conference foes. With the win, Seton Hall improves to 13-1, their best start in the program's 41-year history.

Butler won't have much time to reflect on the game as they return to conference action with a pair of home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse this weekend. The Bulldogs will host Providence on Friday, Jan. 2 and Creighton on Sunday, Jan. 4.