Pirates Face Wagner in Walsh on Saturday
11/22/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2013
SETON HALL (3-1) vs. WAGNER (1-2)
South Orange, N.J. (Walsh Gymnasium) • Saturday, Nov. 23 • 2:00 PM
Webcast: www.shupirates.com • Radio: 89.5 WSOU FM (Play-by-play: Chris Paizis; Color: Matt Valentine)
Seton Hall Game Notes
| Wagner Game Notes | | Live Video
The Seton Hall University women's basketball team opens up a four-game home stand with a matchup against the Wagner Seahawks on Saturday, Nov. 23, with tip off scheduled for 2 p.m. The Pirates will be facing Wagner for the ninth-time overall and the first since 2008. The Pirates enter the game at 3-1 overall and are coming off a loss at No. 21/17 South Carolina while Wagner fell to 1-2 with a 74-59 loss at Iona on Wednesday night.
SETON HALL STATUS
Seton Hall was playing without three starters when it suffered an 88-67 loss at No. 21/17 South Carolina last Sunday afternoon in Columbia. Despite being shorthanded the Pirates led South Carolina with less than a minute to play in the first half and went into the intermission down just two before foul trouble caught up in the second half. Sophomore Tabatha Richardson-Smith continued to display a hot hand tallying 24 points and eight boards at USC, totaling at least 20 points for a third-straight game.
WAGNER STATUS
Wagner is 1-2 after suffering losses to No. 7 Kentucky and most recently Iona, while defeating Monmouth, 70-57 on the road. The Seahawks have used the same starting lineup in all three games, with four underclassmen including a pair of freshmen seeing a bulk of the minutes. Sophomore Jordyn Peck leads the team with 17.7 ppg. Wagner has had difficulty rebounding, with a -5.7 margin, and is turning the ball over 20.7 times per game.
SETON HALL VS. THE NEC
Seton Hall has an all-time winning percentage of .881 (37-5) against the current members of the Northeast Conference. The Pirates last meeting against an NEC foe was a year ago in a 74-64 loss to Mount St. Mary's on Dec. 16, 2012. Seton Hall leads the all-time series with Wagner, 6-2, but the programs have played just once since 1990, which was a 90-59 SHU victory in Walsh Gym on Nov. 21, 2008.
RICHARDSON-SMITH CONTINUES HOT STREAK
- Sophomore Tabatha Richardson-Smith has topped the 20-point plateau in three-straight games for the first time in her career.
- Through the first two weeks of the season she ranks first in the team in scoring (22.5 ppg) and third in rebounding (7.3 rpg). She ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring.
- During her 20-point scoring stretch Richardson-Smith is averaging 27 ppg. 4Entering the season Richardson-Smith's career-high was just 17 points, which she has surpassed three times.
- With the 13-for-20 performance against Marist, Richardson-Smith was the first Seton Hall player to score 30 points in a game since Jasmine Crew finished with 33 points at Memphis on Dec. 30, 2011.
- She finished just six points shy of the Seton Hall single-game scoring record of 36 and one field goal shy of the single-game record of 14.
JOHNSON STEPS INTO STARTING SPOT
Senior forward Janee Johnson has started three-straight games for Seton Hall at forward and is averaging 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds when she is in the starting lineup. Overall she ranks fourth on the team in scoring (9.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 rpg).Johnson scored a career-high 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting in her first start of the season against Rider on Nov. 10.
STARTING LINEUP VARIANCE
Seton Hall head coach Anthony Bozzella has already been forced to use three different starting lineups over the first four games of the season. Only three of the original five starters played in the game at South Carolina last Sunday. Ka-Deidre Simmons, Tabatha Richardson-Smith and Chizoba Ekedigwe have started all four games for the Pirates.
PAINT IT BLUE & WHITE
Seton Hall scored a bulk of its points in the season opening win over Longwood in the paint, outscoring the Lancers 36-10 on the interior. The Pirates have outscored their opponents by a 154-98 margin in the paint through the first three games of the year. The Hall is averaging 38.5 points per game on the interior this season.
SIMMONS CLIMBING CAREER RANKS
With her three assists against Weber State redshirt junior Ka-Deidre Simmons moved in the top-20 on Seton Hall's career assist list. She now has 211-career assists which ranks 20th in school history. Simmons is averaging 3.3 assists per game in her career and led Seton Hall last season with 3.9 assists per game.
WEBER STATE SCORELESS FROM DOWNTOWN
Seton Hall held Weber State to 0-for-12 shooting from 3-point range in its 78-61 win over the Wildcats on Nov. 15. Weber State was the first team to go scoreless from beyond the arc against Seton Hall since Stony Brook failed to hit a 3-pointer on Dec. 17, 2011.
