Hall Opens Holiday Homestand Against Kennesaw
11/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NR/RV SETON HALL (2-1) vs. KENNESAW STATE (3-1)
South Orange, N.J. (Walsh Gymnasium) • Wednesday, Nov. 26 • 12:00 PM
Broadcast: Pirate Sports Network (Play-by-play: Jon Schaeffer)
Radio: 89.5 FM WSOU (Play-by-play: Alez Zeller)
Seton Hall Game Notes 
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The Seton Hall University women's basketball team opens up a three-game home stand over Thanksgiving Week with a Noon tipoff against Kennesaw State University on Wednesday afternoon in Walsh Gym.
It will be the first-ever meeting between the Pirates and Kennesaw State, and the Owls are just the second program out of the Atlantic Sun SHU has ever faced; a home-and-home against Florida Gulf Coast in 2010 and 2011 being the only other matchup.
Seton Hall is coming off a 2-1 showing in the Preseason WNIT, which featured a pair of difficult road tests against the defending Big 12 (West Virginia) and Big 10 (Penn State) champions in consecutive games. After a narrow 89-87 loss at No. 17 WVU, the Pirates bounced back to grab a big win at Penn State, 75-70.
Expect reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Ka-Deidre Simmons to dictate the pace of the game for The Hall against Kennesaw State. Simmons averaged 20.7 ppg and 7.5 apg last week, netting a career-best 28 points in the win over the Lady Lions. She has eclipsed 20 points in back-to-back games for the second time in her career and will look to make it three in a row on Wednesday.
As a team, Seton Hall has been shooting the 3-pointer very effectively. The Pirates are averaging better than seven triples per game while shooting 42.6 percent from long range, leaving the lingering concern on the interior.
The Pirates held a +2.5 rebound margin last year, and really set the pace early in the season, outrebounding seven of their first eight opponents. So far this year, Seton Hall has been outrebounded in all three games, with a -7.0 rebound margin. That struggle has proven to be especially costly on the defensive end where the Pirates are giving up too many second-chance points; Penn State won that battle 22-10 over the weekend.
Kennesaw State had five players score in double figures in its lopsided 72-51 win at Georgia Southern last Saturday. Jasmin McAllister, who scored 16 points with 13 rebounds in that win, was named the Atlantic Sun Newcomer of the Week following that game.
The Owls will look to control the low post, making just 10 3-pointers in four games and shooting 19.6 percent from three. McAllister is shooting nearly 50.0 percent from the field (22-45, .489) while averaging a double-double with 14.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Dandrea Sawyers is right behind her in scoring at 14.0 ppg, and is Kennesaw's greatest outside shooting threat, knocking down five of the team's 10 3-pointers.
SETON HALL STATUS
- Behind a career-high 28 points from Ka-Deidre Simmons, Seton Hall picked up a 75-70 win at Penn State in the WNIT consolation round last Saturday, the first win over a Big 10 team since 2007.
- Ka-Deidre Simmons was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week after averaging 20.7 ppg and 7.5 apg in two games last week. She scored 20-plus points in back-to-back games for the second time in her career.
- Seton Hall has won six-straight home games dating back to last season. The Pirates' last home loss was to Villanova on Feb. 7.
KENNESAW STATE STATUS
- Kennesaw State is 3-1 heading into Wednesday's game and is off to its best start since 2007-08.
- The Owls picked up a dominant win over Georgia Southern, 72-51, last Saturday, with five players scoring in double figures.
- Deandrea Sawyers scored a team-high 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting against Georgia Southern, leading to Atlantic Sun Newcomer of the Week recognition on Nov. 24.
- The Owls will be spending Thanksgiving Week in the New York area, with a second New York metro game at Columbia on Saturday, Nov. 29.
Ka-Deidre Simmons BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- Graduate point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Nov. 24, for the second time in her career.
- Simmons averaged 20.7 ppg and 7.5 assists per game in leading the Pirates in the Preseason WNIT, where The Hall lost at No. 17 West Virginia, 89-87, and won at Penn State, 75-70.
- She scored a career-high 28 points, 23 of which came in the second half, to lead SHU past Penn State, also grabbing seven rebounds with five assists.
- Simmons recorded her fourth-career double-double with 20 points and 10 assists at West Virginia. It was the third time in her career she had a 10-plus assist performance.
SETON HALL VS. THE ATLANTIC SUN
- Wednesday afternoon's game will be just the third meeting all-time between Seton Hall and a current member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
- The only other time the Pirates have faced a member of the Atlantic Sun was a home-and-home series with Florida Gulf Coast in 2010 and 2011.
- Seton Hall lost at FGCU in 2010, before picking up a 57-51 victory in Walsh Gym in the 2011-12 season opener.
PIRATES SHINE IN PRESEASON WNIT
- A year removed from its deepest run in the WNIT in program history, Seton Hall was selected as one of 16 teams to compete in the Preseason WNIT.
- The Pirates represented the BIG EAST Conference well, posting a 2-1 record in the early season tournament, picking up wins over Rider and Penn State, while falling juts 89-87 at No. 17 West Virginia.
- It was just the second time the Pirates competed in the WNIT and the first since the inaugural tournament in 1994.
- That season the Pirates beat Rutgers, 66-64, in the season opener before falling at Washington, 84-72, in the second round.
- Seton Hall is now 3-2 all-time in Preseason WNIT play.
RISING TO THE OCCASION
- Sophomore guard Tara Inman received her second-career start when the Pirates won at Penn State on Nov. 22, and she stepped up and made the most of the opportunity.
- Inman knocked down a pair of 3-point field goals, one each half, to finish with six points in 22 minutes. The second trey put The Hall in front by eight with fewer than five minutes to play.
- Known as a defensive specialist, she also notched three steals in the key road win.
IMPACTFUL EGAN
- After missing nearly all of her freshman season due to injury, sophomore win Kathleen Egan saw the first extended action of her career in the win at Penn State on Nov. 22.
- Egan came off the bench to play 22 minutes, grabbing a team-high four steals in the process.
- She also knocked down a triple during the first half, her first-career field goal.
