Seton Hall University
Pittsburgh
Balanced Pirates Beat Pitt, 69-56
1/5/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Each of Seton Hall's top-three scorers totaled at least 16 points in the win, with senior forward Alexandra Maseko (Harare, Zimbabwe) finishing with and career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for her second-straight double-double and third of the season, while redshirt-sophomore point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) scored 16 points to go along with a career-high eight rebounds.
Saturday afternoon's win saw Seton Hall extend several key trends from the past several games. Simmons has now scored in double figures in six-straight contests and is averaging 14.7 points per game over that stretch.
The Pirates (6-8, 1-0) have outrebounded six-straight opponents, holding a 42-37 edge on the glass against Pittsburgh. Seton Hall shot 5-for-14 from three-point range in the win and has hit at least five three-pointers in five-straight games.
Seton Hall utilized a 12-0 run to break open what began as a back-and-forth game to grab a commanding 18-8 lead a little over nine minutes into the action.
Following a jump shot from junior Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.), Maseko broke an 8-8 tie with a three-point play at the 12:54 mark, and just 23 seconds later Simmons chased down an errant Ashlee Anderson pass all the way down the court and hit a difficult lay-up as she was fouled, providing Seton Hall with a 14-8 advantage.
A minute later Morris found Maseko for a fast-break layup and free throws for Maseko and Johnson concluded the Pirates' big run. The 12 unanswered points were the most for Seton Hall in any game this season and it marked the fourth-straight game the Pirates have had a scoring run of at least 11-straight points.
Pittsburgh (9-5, 0-1) would rally, scoring 13 straight to briefly grab a 21-18 lead on a Brianna Kiesel jump shot with 7:21 left in the opening half. Simmons snapped that run with a three-pointer from the top of the key and Morris knocked down a three on Seton Hall's next possession as the Pirates regained a 24-21 lead.
The first half saw a total of nine ties and six lead changes, but that stopped as Seton Hall grabbed a three-point lead just before the half which it never relinquished.
With her team up by one, Simmons put together a beautiful cross-over move and step-back jumper as time wound down in the first, giving the Pirates a 35-32 lead at the break. She scored 15 of her 16 points in the first half, when she shot 5-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line.
Seton Hall came out on fire to start the second half, hitting five of its first six shots to open the period on a 15-4 run which resulted in a 14-point lead fewer than five minutes into the action.
Junior Brittany Webb (New York, N.Y.) played a critical role in the closing moments of that run, hitting field goals on back-to-back possessions before recording an emphatic blocked shot on a Marquel Davis lay-up attempt that resulted in a Terry Green (Brentwood, N.Y.) transition three-pointer on the other end.
Pittsburgh climbed back into the game with two different 7-0 runs over the next eight minutes, finally getting back within two points, 52-50, following a pair of Asia Logan free throws with under eight minutes to play.
But Green put a stop to the Panthers' pressure with a three-pointer, sparking what turned into an 11-2 Seton Hall run as the Pirates regained the momentum for good, leading by as many as 14 points down the stretch.
Logan finished with a double-double to lead Pittsburgh, scoring 21 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Davis (11) and Kiesel (10) also scored in double figures for the Panthers.
Seton Hall returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 9, when it faces the University of Cincinnati at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
