Seton Hall University
West Virginia
WBB Loses Heartbreaker at No. 17 West Virginia, 89-87
11/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Morgantown, W. Va. - Point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) saw her off-balance last-second layup attempt rim out as the Seton Hall University women's basketball team lost at No. 17 West Virginia, 89-87, in a dramatic early season game in the Preseason WNIT quarterfinals on Monday night.
Seton Hall (1-1) trailed by as many as nine points late in the second half but still had a chance to tie the game in regulation thanks to clutch 3-point shooting down the stretch.
With the Mountaineers (2-0) leading by six with fewer than two minutes to play, junior Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) connected on one of her school-record tying seven 3-pointers to pull the Pirates within one possession, 82-79.
All-American candidate and Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Bria Holmes, who scored a game-high 36 points on 10-for-19 shooting, put the Mountaineers back in front by six on a 3-point play with 1:11 remaining, but the lead was immediately cut in half when Daisha Simmons (Jersey City, N.J.) connected from the left wing on the next SHU possession.
West Virginia went back up by five thanks to Averee Fields hitting two at the line, but the lead was cut to two with 13 seconds remaining when who else but Richardson-Smith was good from downtown once again.
Seton Hall would get as close as one point, as Ka-Deidre Simmons drove right through the lane following a Linda Stepney made free-throw, drawing a foul and making two at the line. There were still 11 seconds remaining and West Virginia struggled at the line all night, shooting just 60.0 percent (24-for-40), but the Pirates had trouble committing an immediate foul on the ensuing inbounds.
Eventually freshman Teana Muldrow, who had been lethal from long-distance all night knocking down six treys in just her second collegiate game, went to the line where she made the first and missed the second. Simmons sprinted right down the floor and took a contested shot as time expired, off the backboard and the front of the rim.
Seton Hall had four players score in double figures, led by Richardson-Smith who turned in her third-career 30-point game, finishing with 32 points on 11-for-17 shooting with eight rebounds. Ka-Deidre Simmons scored 20 points with 10 assists, Daisha Simmons finished with 14 points and six dimes, and graduate Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) tallied 12 points and seven boards.
Although Seton Hall still had a chance in the waning moments of the game, the contest truly turned on a 12-2 West Virginia run earlier in the period, the largest momentum swing for either team in a very tight game.
Seton Hall led 70-69 after redshirt junior Jordan Mosley (Orlando, Fla.) knocked down at trey at 7:52, but Johnson was whistled for her fourth foul on the next WVU possession and the Mountaineers would score eight unanswered to take a 77-70 lead, its largest of the game, after she exited.
The lead eventually hit 81-72 as Holmes scored on the break off a Ka-Deidre Simmons miss, and SHU's rally over the final three minutes ultimately fell two points short.
After facing a 10-rebound deficit in the first half, Seton Hall outrebounded the defending Big 12 champs 24-16 in the second half and really focused on scoring on the interior to open the period. The Pirates knocked down seven threes as a team in the first half, but saw their first eight field goals of the second half come in the paint.
The first half of play was played at just as frenetic a pace as the second, with West Virginia clinging to a 46-45 lead at the intermission. Twice in the opening period the Mountaineers built a six-point lead only to see the Pirates storm right back.
Holmes connected on her second three of the game at 10:12 to make it 24-18. Ka-Deidre Simmons proceeded to take over the game for The Hall, driving to the rim for two and knocking down a pair of free throws to tie things up. The momentum continued to shift back and forth. West Virginia led 38-33 before Richardson-Smith answered, hitting a trey from the right wing and converting a fast-break layup off a pass from Simmons to tie the score before the final media timeout.
Seton Hall will play one more game in the Preseason WNIT, facing Penn State University on the road this Saturday, Nov. 22, in the consolation round. Tipoff in State College is scheduled for 7 p.m.
