WBB Continues Road Trip at Michigan
11/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
Seton Hall and Michigan will meet for the second year in a row after the Wolverines came away with a narrow 51-47 win in South Orange last season. The two schools have only played one another three times, and the Pirates will be making their first trip to Ann Arbor in nearly a decade (Dec. 14, 2002). Michigan leads the all-time series, 2-1.
SETON HALL STATUS
Monday night's game at Michigan is the second of four-straight games away from home for Seton Hall. After the Pirates got off to a fast start, winning two in a row at home, they suffered a 54-38 loss at Temple on Wednesday, Nov. 14. Senior Brittany Morris has led Seton Hall in scoring in all three games so far this season, averaging 16.7 points, five rebounds and two steals per game.
MICHIGAN STATUS
Michigan is coming off a 59-40 loss at Utah on Nov. 16, in a game in which the Wolverines fell behind 15-0 and never fully recovered. Michigan is 2-1 overall, winning its season opener against Detroit (70-62) as well as a road game at Xavier (62-53). Three players score in double figures for the Wolverines in senior forward Rachel Sheffer (16.3), senior guard Kate Thompson (12.3) and senior guard Jenny Ryan (11.3).
SETON HALL VS. THE BIG TEN
Seton Hall is 5-16 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference, including a 1-2 all-time record against Michigan. The Pirates have not had many games or faced many teams from the Big Ten in its history, only playing Michigan (1-2), Michigan State (1-1), Northwestern (2-3), Ohio State (1-1) and Penn State (0-9).
SWARMING DEFENSE
Seton Hall got its hands in a lot of passing lanes at Temple on Nov. 14, forcing a season-high 26 turnovers against the Owls. It was the most turnovers the Pirates had forced in a single game in nearly two years, since the University of Rhode Island turned the ball over 31 times in a 73-69 Seton Hall win on Dec. 29. 2010.
MAKING THEM PAY
So far this season Seton Hall has outscored all three of its opponents in opportunities off of turnovers, holding a 46-23 edge over the opposition. The Pirates have a +5.67 turnover margin, which ranks fifth in the BIG EAST.
MORRIS LEADING THE CHARGE
Senior guard Brittany Morris has scored in double figures in three-straight games to start the season for Seton Hall, pouring in a season-high 23 points in the Pirates' 60-54 win over Lafayette on Nov. 11. Morris shot 8-for-10 from the floor in the win, which ties for the third-best single-season shooting performance in school history. She is currently tied for eighth in the BIG EAST in scoring with 16.7 points per game.
BROWN MAKES IMPRESSIVE SEASON DEBUT
Versatile sophomore guard Alexis Brown made her season debut at Temple on Nov. 14, after missing the first two games of the season and she wasted no time in filling up the stat sheet. Although she finished the game with just four points, she also had seven rebounds, a team-high four assists and a career-high six steal in 25 minutes of action.
FINISHING FREE THROWS
Seton Hall is doing a great job at getting to the free throw line, holding a 57-38 advantage over its opposition so far this season. The Pirates are also taking advantage of those trips to the line, shooting 73.7 percent (42-of-57) from the stripe, which ranks 4th in the BIG EAST.
CLEANING THE GLASS
Senior forward Alexandra Maseko tied her career-high with nine rebounds at Temple on Nov. 14. The nine boards were the most in a single-game for a Seton Hall player so far this season and she also grabbed five offensive rebounds against the Owls.
600 AND COUNTING
With her 23 points in a win over Lafayette on Nov. 11, senior guard Brittany Morris passed 600 points in her career. She has scored 621 points over her three-plus seasons at Seton Hall, and is averaging 7.6 points per game in 82-career games played.
FRESHMAN FOCUS
Freshman forward Tabatha Richardson-Smith has stepped in and made an immediate impact on the floor for Seton Hall through the first three games of the season. She scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting against Lafayette on Nov. 11, and currently ranks second on the team with 8.0 points per game,.She is also a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line.
COMING OFF THE BENCH
Thanks in no small part to the contributions from freshman Tabatha Richardson-Smith, Seton Hall has established an early season advantage over its opposition in bench scoring. The Pirates currently hold a 49-33 edge in bench scoring through the first three games of the year.
PIRATES HOLD OFF NJIT IN SEASON OPENER
Senior guard Brittany Morris scored 15 points and pulled down a career-high seven rebounds to lead Seton Hall to a 69-66 victory over NJIT in the season opener on Nov. 9. The Pirates led by as many as six points in the second half, but found themselves in a tie game with under a minute to play. Senior forward Alexandra Maseko and Morris iced the win by going 3-for-4 at the line down the stretch.
REACHING MILESTONES
Seton Hall senior forward Terry Green eclipsed a couple of career milestones in SHU's 69-66 win over NJIT in the season opener in Nov. 9. By knocking down a three-pointer in the second half, she recorded career-triple No. 100, which ranks eighth in school history, and she also finished the game with nine points, which was good enough to move her over 500-points for her career.
BALANCING ACT
Three different players, senior Brittany Morris (15), redshirt sophomore Ka-Deidre Simmons (12) and senior Alexandra Maseko (11) finished with double digit points against NJIT on Nov. 9. It marked the first time Seton Hall had at least three players score in double figures since four accomplished the feat against Syracuse on Jan. 22, 2012.
TAKING THE CHARITY
Seton Hall shot a stellar 24-for-30 (.800) from the free throw line in the season opening 69-66 victory over NJIT, including an 8-for-8 performance from senior Brittany Morris. It was the most free throw makes and attempts for Seton Hall since it shot 28-for-40 in a 72-69 win over Louisiana Tech on Nov. 24, 2011, and it was also the first time SHU had 23 more free throw attempts than its opponent since its win over Louisiana Tech.
NO SIGNS OF RUST
Playing in her first game since March 4, 2011, redshirt sophomore point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons returned to the court for Seton Hall in its season opener against NJIT and made an immediate difference as the Pirates' floor general. She finished with 12 points, for her seventh-career double-digit scoring game, and also led the team with four assists in 35 minutes.
MAKING A COMEBACK
Seton Hall redshirt sophomore point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons returns to the lineup for Seton Hall after missing all of the 2011-12 season with an injury. The 5-foot-8-inch point guard out of Newark, N.J., averaged 7.2 points and 3.4 assists per game in 2010-11, when she received BIG EAST All-Freshman accolades after appearing in all 30 games for Seton Hall, making 27 starts in the back court.
LONG-RANGE MARKSMEN
A pair of Seton Hall seniors, Brittany Morris and Terry Green, are continuing their ascent up the program record books in three-point field goals in three-point attempts. Morris is tied for third in school history with 110 career three-pointers while Green ranks eighth with 100-career threes. Green is third all-time with 369 three-point attempts while Morris is just behind her in sixth place with 350 long-range attempts.
THREE'S COMPANY
Led by Terry Green and Brittany Morris the Pirates were very proficient from three-point range a season ago. Of Seton Hall's best eight single-game three-point shooting performances in school history, a whopping five of them came during the 2011-12 season. The Pirates tied their single-game record with 11 makes against Drexel on Dec. 12, 2011, and made 10 threes at New Hampshire and nine against Marquette, Syracuse and DePaul.
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
Senior Terry Green etched her name in the school record book with an amazing three-point shooting clinic against DePaul last season. She was a perfect 7-for-7 from three-point range, which set a Seton Hall record in addition to being the best performance from three for a BIG EAST player last season.
EARLY SEASON TESTS
Head coach Anne Donovan has put together a very challenging non-conference schedule that will provide her team with a number of early season tests as it prepares for the rigors of the BIG EAST Conference. Two of Seton Hall's non-conference opponents, South Carolina, and Michigan, received votes in the preseason Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches Poll, and the Pirates will also travel to Wake Forest in addition to hosting future BIG EAST member Memphis, before opening BIG EAST play on January 5.
CALIFORNIA LOVE
Once again the Pirates will be participating in a holiday tournament as this season the team will head to Malibu, Calif., to compete in the Pepperdine University Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 23-24. Seton Hall will face Wyoming in its tournament opener on Nov. 23, at 4 p.m., and then play either host Pepperdine or South Dakota on Nov. 24.
WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS ARENA
When Seton Hall faces St. John's University on Saturday, Jan. 12, it will be a truly unique experience for the Pirates as the contest will take place at the World's Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, as a part of a St. John's men's and women's hoops double header.
COACHING ADDITION
April Phillips has joined the Seton Hall University coaching staff as the SHU Coordinator of Basketball Operations. Phillips was a four-year letter winner at Xavier University where she helped the Musketeers win three-straight Atlantic 10 championships and was a three-time All-Atlantic 10 honoree. After college she played internationally in Israel, Finland and Belgium.
HOME AND AWAY OPPONENTS
Seton Hall's BIG EAST schedule will feature at least one meeting with all 14 of its conference foes but the Pirates will face both USF (Jan. 22 & Feb. 16) and St. John's University (Jan. 12 & March 2) both at Walsh Gymnasium and on the road.
PIRATE SPORTS NETWORK
The Pirate Sports Network is back for the 2012-13 season and better than ever. With the addition of multiple cameras, the live broadcasts can now be see in high definition with audio play-by-play and color commentary provided by industry professionals Jon Schaeffer and Joey Wahler.
BIG EAST PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Seton Hall University was picked to finish in a tie for 13th place with the University of Pittsburgh in the 2012-13 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll. The University of Connecticut received 12 first place votes to claim the top spot in the poll while the University of Notre Dame came in second, receiving the other three first-place tallies.
BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2013 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship will take place from Friday-Tuesday, March 8-12, and will return to the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. For the fifth-straight season all 15 BIG EAST teams will be invited to Hartford for the conference tournament.
