Seton Hall University
Wake Forest
WBB Loses Heartbreaker at Wake
12/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
With the game knotted at 63-63 and Wake Forest playing for the final shot of regulation, Seton Hall sophomore guard Alexis Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) was called for a foul as Demon Deacon senior Asia Williams took an off balance shot with just half a second showing on the clock.
Williams hit the front end of two free throw attempts and Wake Forest escaped with a one-point victory after seeing Seton Hall outscore them by a 39-30 margin in the second half.
Redshirt sophomore Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) starred for Seton Hall by pouring in a season-high 18 points, 13 of which came in the second half. She finished the game shooting 6-for-8 from the field, 6-for-7 from the free throw line and she also racked up a career-high six assists in 37 minutes of action.
Simmons and junior Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) teamed up to help Seton Hall overcome a 14-point first-half deficit and come all the way back to take a two-point lead fewer than five minutes into the second period.
Johnson scored Seton Hall's final four points of the first half and six of the Pirates' first eight of the second as Seton Hall trailed by just five points following a Johnson layup with 17:47 to play.
Simmons made it a one-possession game by scoring five points in a span of just 25 seconds to pull the Pirates within one point with 16:31 remaining. Brown found Simmons on the fast break for a layup as she was fouled and she converted the free throw, one of her three three-point plays in the game.
On the next possession senior Brittany Morris (Raleigh, N.C.) drained a three-pointer and Seton Hall was back in front by two, 40-38.
During Seton Hall's 16-4 run to start the second half over a span of just 4:12 the Pirates shot 6-for-9 from the field and 3-for-3 from the line while Wake Forest missed seven of its first eight shots and turned the ball over twice.
From that point forward a game that featured eight ties and eight lead changes never saw either team take more than a four-point advantage.
That largest lead of the remainder of the game came with 8:16 to play when Simmons knocked down a midrange jumper before Morris made her third three of the game to put Seton Hall up by four, 56-52, but Wake scored on its next two possessions to tie the game at 56-56.
Johnson came up with a huge bucket with under a minute to play, tying the game at 63-63 with 28 seconds remaining to finish with a career-high 14 points before Wake Forest won the game with the late free throw with less than a second remaining.
In addition to Simmons and Johnson the Pirates had two other players score in double figures, with Morris (12 points) and Brown (10 points) also making key contributions. It was the second double-digit scoring game of the season for Brown and the seventh for Morris.
Seton Hall finished the game with a 38-37 advantage on the glass and the Pirates shot 10-for-11 from the free-throw line.
Wake Forest (5-5) built its 10-point halftime lead by using a 15-0 run late in the first half to overcome a one-point Seton Hall lead and take a 34-24 advantage into the locker room. Lakevia Boykin led Wake Forest with 13 points in the first half and scored seven of the team's 15 points during that decisive run over a span of 3:54.
Seton Hall (3-6) returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 16, when it begins a five-game home stand against Mount St. Mary's University at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
