Big East Conference action started the first week of December for Seton Hall University, and senior guard Lauren Park-Lane came in hot. She averaged 27.5 points and 6.5 assists in wins over Xavier and Marquette. For this, she received Big East Player of the Week.
“It means a lot,” said Park-Lane. “I got this honor because of our team’s success and I just want to keep that going. Us playing all together has really helped me get all these things. I’m just appreciative of my teammates.”
After wins over Rider and UCF, Seton Hall is 8-3. Park-Lane said the team is doing a good job of incorporating new players and returnees. It’s nothing new to have transfer students join the Pirates. As a co-captain, Park-Lane said her role is to “show the new kids coming in how we do things as a team—by the way we play, the way we practice, our off-the-court behavior as well. Just trying to be a lead-by-example type of leader,” she said.
She feels she started off the season slow, so having some high-scoring games gave Park-Lane a boost. Associate head coach Lauren DeFalco basically told her to just play her game and not worry about missing. The likelihood of making baskets is good because she works on shooting every day. “To have her in my ear actually really helped me,” said Park-Lane.
This season is putting Park-Lane and other upperclassmen in a positive mood. So much of her college career has been impacted by the pandemic, so to have in-person classes and some social interactions has given her a boost of energy and confidence.
“I’m happy that it’s happening my senior year,” said Park-Lane, who is majoring in social and behavioral sciences. “I get to finally have the college experience. I had a little bit of it freshman year, but at the end we didn’t get to go to any tournaments because of COVID. Now it feels back to normal.”
Following her time at Seton Hall, Park-Lane wants to play professionally and then go into coaching, but for now she’s focused on this season. After games against Fordham and UConn, the Seton Hall players will get five days off to go home for Christmas.
“I’m really excited to see how much our team capitalizes off of the wins that we’ve had,” said Park-Lane. “I want to see how we play. I’m just really excited to play.”