Seton Hall University
Kennesaw State
Pirates Hold Off Kennesaw State 77-74
11/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score | Box Score 
| Highlights
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall University women's basketball team survived a frenzied late-second half charge from Kennesaw State to hang on and pick up a 77-74 victory on Wednesday afternoon and improve to 3-1 on the year. Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Pirates to the win.
After leading by as many as 19 points in the second half, Seton Hall found itself down 74-72 with under a minute to play, but closed the game with five unanswered points to come away with the win.
Deandrea Sawyers scored seven of her 16 points to power an 11-0 Kennesaw State (3-2) run over a three and a half minute stretch late in the second half, giving the Owls a 72-70 lead with just over two minutes remaining. The SHU deficit remained two as the seconds ticked away, but Ka-Deidre Simmons strung together a pair of big plays to swing the momentum.
Needing a defensive stop, Ka-Deidre Simmons striped Breonna Mosely as she drove to the basket and then calmly knocked down a 10-footer on the other end to tie the game. The Pirates applied pressure on the ensuing inbounds play, leading to a Daisha Simmons (Jersey City, N.J.) steal at midcourt. Her outlet to Ka-Deidre Simmons resulted in a foul and two free throws, but she only made the second, giving Kennesaw State the ball down only one with :38 remaining.
The Pirates came up with another big stop, getting Aareon Smith to force an attempt as the shot clock expired. Bra'Shey Ali (Plainfield, N.J.) scrambled to come up with the rebound, one of her team-best 15 on the day, and made two free throws at the other end to ice the game.
Simmons scored her 26 points on 10-for-20 shooting from the field, adding five assists and four steals to her impressive stat line. She has now scored 20-plus points in three-straight games for the first time in her career, and is averaging 24.7 ppg over that stretch.
Ali recorded her first double-double of the season and the 10th of her career, with 16 points and 15 boards to go along with three blocked shots, and Daisha Simmons turned in her most complete game in a Pirate uniform with an efficient 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in addition to eight assists.
Ka-Deidre Simmons scored 17 points in the first half to help The Hall build a 41-33 lead at the break. Seton Hall led by as many as 12 in the opening period, but after Smith knocked down a pair of 3-pointers with under a minute to play, Ka-Deidre Simmons scored as time expired to end the KSU run and provide her team with an eight point lead.
As the second half approached the midway point, it appeared as if the Pirates were well on their way to securing a win. Seton Hall took its largest lead, 58-39, when Daisha Simmons found an easy two in transition, and the Pirate advantage was still 18 points with 10:15 remaining following a Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) triple, one of her three in the game.
Over the next nine minutes, Kennesaw State outscored the Pirates 27-7, hitting a 3-pointer on three-straight possessions at one point, as the Seton Hall lead dipped down to single digits for the first time since the early moments of the second half. Smith hit two of those 3-pointers for the Owls, finishing the game with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting from long distance.
Ka-Deidre Simmons ended a nearly four-minute scoreless drought with a clutch mid-range jumper at 1:48, igniting Seton Hall's 7-2 run to end the game.
Seton Hall returns to action this weekend, when it hosts Saint Peter's University, St. Francis (N.Y.) and Saint Joseph's in the two-day Thanksgiving Classic, Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 29-30, in Walsh Gym. The Pirates open their home tournament against Saint Peter's on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.
