WBB Hosts #24 South Carolina

SETON HALL (3-4) vs. RV/#24 SOUTH CAROLINA (8-0) South Orange, N.J. (Walsh Gymnasium) Sunday, Dec. 2 • 2:00 PM Webcast: www.shupirates.com (Jon Schaeffer) Radio: 89.5 WSOU (Play-by-play: Leonard Nuciforo; Color: Anthony Di Paolo)
ABOUT THE MATCHUP Seton Hall and the No. 24 South Carolina Gamecocks will match up for the third time overall and the first since the 2004-05 season. The two schools competed in a home and away series in 2003-04 and 2004-05, with Seton Hall picking up wins in both meetings, most recently a 53-44 win on Dec. 30, 2004.
SETON HALL STATUS Seton Hall snapped a four-game losing streak by picking up a 57-48 win over Siena College on Nov. 28. Freshman Tabatha Richardson-Smith scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Pirates to the win. Seton Hall shot a season-best 43.1 percent from the field in the win. The Pirates had played four-straight games away from home, traveling to Michigan and then Pepperdine during an eight-day Thanksgiving road swing.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATUS South Carolina cracked the USA Today/Coaches Top-25 Poll after winning the Reef Division of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. Returning home, South Carolina overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to come back and beat Drexel, 58-55, on Nov. 28. Ashley Bruner leads three players averaging double figures for South Carolina with 12.4 and 7.6 rebounds per game. The Gamecocks are dominant on the boards with a +18.1 rebound margin.
SETON HALL ALL-TIME VS. SEC The Seton Hall University women's basketball team is 6-4 all-time against current members of the Southeastern Conference and the Pirate have faced nine different SEC teams, including Sunday's opponent South Carolina. The Pirates' last game against an SEC foe came just last season, when they lost to Alabama, 62-56 in overtime on Nov. 25, 2011, at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.
FAB FRESHMAN Freshman forward Tabatha Richardson-Smith lifted the Pirates to a 57-48 win over Siena on Nov. 28, by pouring in a career-high 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the floor. She also nailed three three-pointers and tied for the team lead with six rebounds. So far this season Richardson-Smith ranks second on the team in scoring with 8.1 points per game and is shooting 36.7 percent (22-for-60) from the floor, which is the Pirates' third-best individual shooting percentage.
HOME COOKING The Pirates have fared well on their home floor at Walsh Gymnasium so far this year where they have picked up all three of their wins. Freshman forward Tabatha Richardson-Smith is performing especially well at home where she has scored in double figures in two of the three games and is averaging 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
PLAYING THE POINT Seton Hall has had a number of different players handle point guard duties throughout the season and the Pirates have already had three different players lead them in assists in multiple games. Sophomore Alexis Brown and senior Brittany Morris have led SHU in assists in three games, with both players notching five assists in the win over Siena, and redshirt sophomore Ka-Deidre Simmons has finished with a team-high in assists in two games. Morris has a team-high 20 assists so far this season but Brown is the leader in assists per game with 3.0.
JOHNSON MAKES FIRST-CAREER START Junior Janee Johnson made her first-career start in a Seton Hall uniform in the Pirates' 57-48 win over Siena on Nov. 28. She logged a season-high 21 minutes against the Saints and finished with four points, five rebounds and two steals.
TOP OFFENSIVE OUTPUT Seton Hall's 57-48 win over Siena on Nov. 28, was its most efficient offensive performance of the season thus far. The Pirates shot a season-high 43.1 percent (22-of-51) from the field, and had 14 assists on 22 field goals. Seton Hall was also efficient from downtown, shooting 4-for-8 and out-rebounded the Saints 34-32.
KA-DEIDRE SIMMONS NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Redshirt sophomore point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons was named to the Pepperdine Thanksgiving Tournament All-Tournament team for her roll in leading the Pirates in games against Wyoming and South Dakota. Simmons averaged 13 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in the tournament. She scored a season high 14 points against South Dakota and netted 12 points with five assists and no turnovers against Wyoming.
MASEKO SEEING DOUBLE Senior forward Alexandra Maseko recorded the first double-double of her career and the first for Seton Hall this season when she scored 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds against South Dakota on Nov. 24. The 11 points were just one off her career high while it was the first time in her career she reached double figures in rebounds. The 10 rebounds were also an individual game-high for Seton Hall this season.
ALEXIS BROWN HOSTS CAREER DAY Sophomore guard Alexis Brown turned in the best offensive performance of her career when the Pirates faced South Dakota on Nov. 24. She scored a career-high 13 points, scoring in double figures for the first time in her career, and also had a career-high six field goals to go along with six rebounds and two steals.
FOUR PLAYERS SCORE IN DOUBLE FIGURES Seton Hall saw four players score in double figures in its game against South Dakota on Nov. 24, for the first time since the Pirates faced Syracuse last season. Redshirt sophomore Ka-Deidre Simmons scored a game-high 14 points, sophomore Alexis Brown netted a career-high 13 points, senior Brittany Morris tallied 12 points and senior Alexandra Maseko registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
MORRIS LEADING THE CHARGE Senior guard Brittany Morris has led Seton Hall in scoring in five of its seven games, 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-game shooting performance in school history. She currently ranks 25th in the BIG EAST in scoring with 12.6 points per game.
DISHING THE ROCK Redshirt sophomore point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons tied her career-high with five assists against Wyoming on Nov. 23. Making her stat line more impressive is the fact that she had no turnovers and ranked second on the team in scoring with 12 points. Simmons has notched five assists in a game four times in her career and she scored in double figures for the eighth time.
CALIFORNIA LOVE Once again the Pirates participated in a holiday tournament as this season the team traveled to Malibu, Calif., to compete in the Pepperdine University Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 23-24. Seton Hall faced Wyoming in the opening game and South Dakota in the consolation final.
MAKING THEM PAY So far this season Seton Hall has outscored four of its seven opponents in opportunities off of turnovers, holding a 105-88 edge over the opposition. The Pirates have a +3.14 turnover margin, which ranks eighth in the BIG EAST.
FINISHING FREE THROWS Seton Hall is doing a great job of converting at the free throw line this season. The Pirates are shooting 72.4 percent (84-of-116) from the stripe, which ranks 4th in the BIG EAST and 69th in the nation.
FORCING THE ISSUE 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.
BROWN MAKES 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 steals in 25 minutes.
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 659 points over her three-plus seasons at Seton Hall, and is averaging 7.7 points per game in 86-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 six games of the season. She scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting against Lafayette on Nov. 11, and ranks second on the team with 8.1 points per game.
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, and she also finished the game with nine points, which was good enough to move her over 500-points for her career.
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.
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.
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 third in school history with 113 career three-pointers while Green is tied for seventh with 101-career threes. Green is third all-time with 383 three-point attempts while Morris is just behind her in fourth place with 379 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.
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, Joey Wahler and Jason Guerette.
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.

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