Seton Hall University
Memphis
Comeback Against Memphis Just Short
12/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Seton Hall (4-8) trailed by 13 points, 59-46, with less than four minutes to play when redshirt sophomore Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) made a layup in traffic to spark what turned into a 10-2 SHU run.
After converting a pair of free throws with 1:37 left in the game, senior Brittany Morris (Raleigh, N.C.) intercepted a Nicole Dickson pass on the next Memphis possession and then dished it out to Simmons in transition for a quick pull up three to cut the Seton Hall deficit to just six, 59-53.
Memphis (6-5) freshman point guard Ariel Hearn made two free throws only to see Morris answer with one of her four three-point field goals on Seton Hall's next possession; but five points was a close as the Pirates could get down the stretch.
Morris led the Pirates with 22 points, her second 20-point game of the season, while shooting 4-for-8 from three-point range and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Simmons, who played all 40 minutes at the point, compiled 15 points to go along with four assists, six rebounds and three steals.
Simmons, who has now scored in double figures in four-straight games for the Pirates, is averaging 15.3 points and 6.3 assists per game over that stretch.
Morris is now 36-for-39 (.923) from the free throw line this season, a shooting percentage that leads the BIG EAST and ranks 18th in the nation.
The Pirates have now outrebounded each of their last four opponents and finished with a 42-32 edge on the glass against Memphis on Saturday afternoon, with senior Alexandra Maseko (Harare, Zimbabwe), sophomore Alexis Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.), Simmons and junior Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) each pulling down six boards.
The first half of the game was a tail of two runs, with Seton Hall getting out to a really fast start before Memphis turned the tables with a big run of its own.
The Pirates scored the first 11 points of the game behind three quick buckets from Maseko and took a 13-2 lead as Simmons found junior Brittany Webb (New York, N.Y.) underneath the basket for two points.
Memphis missed its first 10 shot and turned the ball over five times before registering its first field goal, a Nicole Dickson jumper, nearly six and a half minutes into the action. However, when Dickson nailed a three following Webb's layup it started what turned into a 23-0 Memphis run over the next 7:21.
Morris put an end to the Tigers' run of unanswered points with a personal 7-0 run over a span of just 44 seconds with less than five minutes to play in the first. She hit a three and then drew fouls on consecutive possessions, hitting all four free throws to pull the Pirates back within five points, 25-20.
Memphis went back up by nine but Morris came up with another three pointer to make the Seton Hall deficit just six, and that was the Tiger advantage heading into the half.
The Tigers scored the first seven points of the second half to build a 13-point advantage, their largest of the game, before watching Seton Hall answer with eight-straight points of its own to pull back within five.
Following a Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) layup at the 10:47 mark of the second half, which once again made it a five-point game, Memphis steadily extended its lead to 15 points prior to the late Seton Hall run.
Hearn led three Tigers' in double figures with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting while Dickson finished with 20 points and Asianna Fuqua-Bey had 14 points with six rebounds.
Seton Hall returns to action when it hosts its final non-conference game of the year on Sunday, Dec. 30, as the Pirates welcome Wofford to Walsh Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
