Simmons, Richardson-Smith Preseason All-BIG EAST
10/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK - The Seton Hall University women's basketball team landed a pair of Preseason All-BIG EAST honorees in graduate point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) and junior wing Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas), it was announced Wednesday at BIG EAST Media Day, held at Madison Square Garden.
Additionally, the Pirates were picked to finish fifth in the 10-team league, receiving 51 points in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. Seton Hall is coming off a season in which it finished 20-14 overall and 8-10 in the BIG EAST Conference, placing seventh in the 2013-14 regular season standings before advancing to the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament. Seton Hall returns four starters and nine letterwinners from last year's squad, including Simmons and Richardson-Smith who both received BIG EAST postseason accolades.
The Pirates were selected as an at-large team for the 2014 WNIT, advancing to the tournament's third round for the first time in program history before being ousted by eventually WNIT champion Rutgers in double overtime.
DePaul received nine first-place votes to finish first in the Coaches' Poll with 81 points. The St. John's Red Storm received the other first-place vote, placing second with 73 points. Villanova (60 points), Creighton (51 points) and Seton Hall (51) rounded out the top-five.
Simmons, who was a First-Team All-BIG EAST selection last season, and also landed on the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team, the first SHU player to accomplish that feat since 1996, is poised to finish her career as one of the most dynamic players in Seton Hall history.
Last season, Simmons became just the 20th player in program history to eclipse 1,000-career points and currently sits 14th all-time with 1,139. She is also fifth all-time with 368 assists and ninth with 181 steals.
Her career-best 16.7 ppg in 2013-14 ranked fourth in the BIG EAST, as she posted double-figures in 33-of-34 games played, including 29-straight to end the season. Simmons racked up a school-record 174 assists, averaging 5.1 per contest, the fourth-best mark in the league.
Richardson-Smith also picked up some postseason hardware a year ago, garnering BIG EAST Most Improved Player honors to go along with her Second-Team All-BIG EAST status.
She led The Hall and finished third in the BIG EAST, averaging 17.1 ppg while setting a new Seton Hall record with 85 made 3-point field goals. Richardson-Smith also registered 82 steals, the second-best single-season mark in program history, and broke the program's single-game scoring record.
In an overtime win over Marquette, Richardson-Smith poured in a career-high 38 points, eclipsing the old record of 36 points set by SHU's all-time leading scorer Geraldine Saintilus back in 1989. She also set a new SHU record with 15 made field goals in the win.
Seton Hall will open the 2014-15 season by competing in the Preseason WNIT. The Pirates were selected as a competitor in the preseason tournament for the first time since the inaugural Preseason WNIT in 1994, and host Rider in Walsh Gymnasium on Friday, Nov. 14, at 12 p.m.
Seton Hall will begin BIG EAST play at Creighton University on Wednesday, Dec. 3, in a game that will be national televised on Fox Sports 1. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. (ET).
BIG EAST PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
1. DePaul (9).........81
2. St. John's (1).....73
3. Villanova..........60
4. Creighton..........55
5. Seton Hall.........51
6. Providence.........36
7. Marquette..........34
8. Georgetown.........26
9. Xavier.............24
10. Butler............10
