Seton Hall University
Cincinnati
WBB Falls to St. John's, 51-45
3/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Seton Hall concludes the season with an 11-20 record and a 5-11 mark in BIG EAST play. The Pirates defeated Cincinnati, 60-55, in first round action on Friday evening to advance to the second round of the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time since 2009.
The 11 overall victories were the most for the Pirates since the 2008-09 season and Seton Hall's five BIG EAST wins equaled the highest total since 2007.
Senior Brittany Morris (Raleigh, N.C.) wrapped up her stellar career with a team-high 13 points against St. John's. She leaves Seton Hall as the program's all-time leading three-point shooter with 178 triples and the single-season record holder with 74 threes this year.
Earning Second-Team All-BIG EAST accolades for the first time in her career, Morris scored 426 points this season to tally 997 over the last four years. With 13 points against St. John's moved past Ashley Bush (2001-05) for 20th place on the Seton Hall all-time scoring list.
Redshirt sophomore Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) also scored in double figures for the Pirates finishing with 11 points and five assists and three steals. Her 2012-13 campaign ends with 122 assists, the ninth most in a single season in school history and 63 steals, the 10th-highest single season total at SHU.
The Seton Hall offense was rolling out of the gate. The Pirates hit four of their first six shots of the game, including a Morris three pointer on the first possession to jump out to a 9-4 lead and force a St. John's timeout; the Red Storm were 2-for-9 shooting to start the game.
From that point First-Team All-BIG EAST selection Shenneika Smith took over for the Red Storm. She scored 11-straight points including a personal 6-0 run that ended with a pair of free throws resulting in a 13-11 St. John's lead, its first of the game.
Smith's offensive burst was the start of a longer 13-2 St. John's run over a span of 6:21 as the Red Storm stretched their lead all the way to seven points, 20-13.
Simmons pulled the Pirates back on track as sophomore Alexis Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) found her in transition for an easy layup to pull Seton Hall back within five, snapping a seven minute stretch without a field goal for The Hall.
St. John's managed to take a six point, 24-18, lead into the half by forcing 12 Seton Hall turnovers and taking advantage of second chance opportunities. The Red Storm outscored the Pirates 15-2 off turnovers and although offensive rebounds were tied 7-7 St. John's held an 11-2 edge in second chance scoring.
Seton Hall took better care of the basketball in the second half and continued to hold an edge on the glass but in the end the Pirates could not get enough shots to drop.
After falling behind 29-21 to start the second half the Pirates held the Red Storm without a field goal for nearly four minutes and made it a one possession game, 32-29, on a Simmons bucket with 11:49 remaining.
That basket came during a 12-4 Seton Hall run that ended as senior Alexandra Maseko (Harare, Zimbabwe) drained two free throws to put the Pirates back in front by one, 33-32.
Briana Brown answered with a triple on the next STJ possession and the Red Storm did not trail the rest of the way. Seton Hall did pull back within three points, 40-37, as sophomore Brown slid around a pair of defenders in the paint for a layup with 3:53 to play.
Seton Hall limited Smith to just one field goal in the second half, as she played most of the period in foul trouble, but her only basket was a big one, a three-pointer to extend the Red Storm lead back to seven, with only 1:26 left in the game.
Smith led three players in double figures for St. John's, finishing with a game-high 16 points. Amber Thompson registered a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
