WBB Receiving Votes in AP/USA Today Top-25 Polls
12/24/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Associated Press Top-25 Poll | USA Today/Coaches Top-25 Poll
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Currently riding the longest winning streak in two decades and off to the best start since the 2008-09 season, the Seton Hall University women's basketball team is 11-1 overall and garnering national attention as the Pirates are receiving top-25 votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll.
Seton Hall has won 10 games in a row, the longest such streak for The Hall since the 1994-95 season, which marked the last time the Pirates made a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Seton Hall's only loss this season came by just two points, at No. 17 West Virginia on Nov. 17, 89-87, and the team has won seven of its last eight games by double figures.
Playing inside of Walsh Gym, Seton Hall has won 13-straight dating back to last season, the second-longest home winning streak in program history, and the second such 10-plus game streak at home under second year head coach Anthony Bozzella.
After its Christmas break, Seton Hall returns to the court for its final non-conference game of the season and the toughest test to date, as the unbeaten No. 14/16 Georgia Bulldogs pay a visit to Walsh Gym on Sunday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast by the BIG EAST Digital Network, and will be available via the Fox Sports Go mobile app.
Georgia boasts a win over then No. 16 Michigan State on its resume, 69-60, and following a two-week break for finals, defeated Furman and Belmont at home earlier this week.
A few fast facts about Seton Hall's 11-1 start:
- The Pirates have four players scoring in double figures and three of the top-six offensive players in the BIG EAST Conference.
- Tabatha Richardson-Smith leads Seton Hall and ranks fourth in the BIG EAST, averaging 17.2 ppg. Her 3.0 3-pointers per game lead the league and rank 17th in the nation.
- Richardson-Smith was named the BIG EAST and USBWA National Player of the Week after she tied the program's single-game scoring record of 38 points in a win over Illinois on Dec. 9.
- BIG EAST Player of the Year candidate Ka-Deidre Simmons ranks sixth in the conference in scoring with 16.6 ppg, and leads the league with 5.8 assists per game, the 22nd best mark in the country.
- With 1,338-career points, Ka-Deidre Simmons ranks eighth all-time at Seton Hall, and with 437 career assists, she is less than 100 assists shy of Kathy O'Reilly's program record of 433.
- Daisha Simmons is fitting right in at The Hall in her first season wearing a Pirate uniform, averaging 16.8 ppg, the fifth-best mark in the BIG EAST, while scoring in double figures in 11-straight games.
- Daisha Simmons has already earned BIG EAST Player of the Week and Weekly Honor Roll accolades this season.
- Bra'Shey Ali is nearly posting a double-double with 10.4 ppg and 9.5 rebounds per game, coming off a conference Honor Roll nod this week, the first of her career.
- Ali ranks third in the BIG EAST is rebounding.
- Second year head coach Anthony Bozzella is 31-15 in just shy of a season and a half in South Orange. Last year, he led the Pirates to the WNIT Third Round, which was the first postseason berth for the program since 2007 and its deepest run in the WNIT in program history.
- Seton Hall plays an exciting, up-tempo style, and is averaging 75.6, which would easily surpass the program record scoring average of 73.2 ppg, set back in 1993-94.
Tickets for the matchup against the No. 14 Georgia Bulldogs are still available. For more information contact the Seton Hall ticket office at 973-275-HALL (4255) or e-mail tickets@shu.edu.
