Seton Hall University
Longwood
Balanced Attack Leads WBB Past Longwood, 63-46
11/8/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2013
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Redshirt junior point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) scored a team-high 14 points with seven assists and redshirt sophomore Bra'Shey Ali (Plainfield, N.J.) nearly recorded a double-double with eight points and 15 rebounds to lead the Seton Hall University women's basketball team to a 63-46 victory over Longwood in its 2013-14 season opener on Friday night at Walsh Gymnasium.
It also marked the first win at Seton Hall first first-year head coach Anthony Bozzella, a 1989 SHU graduate who last March was named just the fourth head women's basketball coach in school history.
The Pirates dominated the Lancers on the interior, outscoring them 36-10 in the paint while holding a commanding 64-36 edge on the glass and a 21-8 lead in second-chance points.
While Simmons was the only Seton Hall player to finish in double figures, the balanced offense featured six players with eight points or more. Sophomore Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) had nine points and eight boards, freshman guard Tara Inman (Holmdel, N.J.) knocked down a pair of threes on the way to nine points and junior Chizoba Ekedigwe (Laurel, Md.) finished with eight points and five rebounds.
Redshirt freshman Sidney Cook (Parkton, N.C.) made her much anticipated collegiate debut after missing all of last season due to injury and appeared to be headed toward a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds before she was injured as she fell to the floor trying to save a loose ball with just under 15 minutes to play in the game.
Seton Hall trailed 9-5 in the early moments of the game before rattling off a 10-0 run over 4:39, capped off by an Ekedigwe layup that put the Pirates up by six, 15-9. Longwood pulled back within two points on a Kyndal Skersick bucket with just under five minutes to play in the first half, but Cook responded with field goals on consecutive possessions to push the SHU lead back to six, and the Pirates took a seven point, 36-29, lead into the half after Simmons nailed a midrange jumper seven seconds before the horn.
The Pirates scored the first two field goals of the second half, extending their lead to 10 points when Ekedigwe reigned in an offensive board and went back up for an easy two. Following a Daeisha Brown jump shot at the 16:23 mark the Lancers were back within five points, 41-36, but from there Longwood went ice cold, failing to hit a field goal over the next 8:03, allowing Seton Hall to push its lead all the way to 15.
The Lancers missed 10-straight field goal attempts and turned the ball over five times during its field goal drought. The Hall extended the lead to 12 points for the first time when senior Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) fed Ekedigwe under the basket for an easy layup, which was followed closely by scores from Simmons and Ali.
With 6:50 left in the game the Seton Hall lead did dip down to eight points thanks to a Raven Williams 3-pointer, but Inman answered by knocking down a triple on the Pirates' next possession to spark what turned into a 9-0 SHU burst over just 1:52.
Seton Hall continues its three-game home stand to start the season on Sunday, Nov. 10, when it hosts Rider University in Walsh Gymnasium. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
