Seton Hall University
St. John's
Hall Falls to First-Place St. John's 69-48
2/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2014
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall University women's basketball team was never able to get its offense on track as the Pirates fell to first-place St. John's, 69-48, in BIG EAST action on Saturday afternoon in Walsh Gymnasium.
Seton Hall (13-7, 4-5), who was playing without starter Bra'Shey Ali (Plainfield, N.J), who had recorded five-straight double-doubles heading into the weekend, fell behind by 16 points in the first half as the Red Storm opened the game scorching hot from the outside, hitting five of their first six long-range attempts in the opening stanza. For the Pirates, they suffer losses in back-to-back games for the first time this season, the last team in the BIG EAST to experience a two-game losing streak.
St. John's (16-5, 9-1) shot 61.9 percent from the field in the first half, nailing five 3-pointers, while the Pirates were 0-for-8 from three in the first half, shooting just 29.4 percent as a team; SHU finished the game 0-for-12 from three, failing to hit a 3-pointer for the first time this season.
A 10-minute stretch in the first half ultimately proved to be the biggest difference in the game as the Red Storm built a double-digit cushion. St. John's broke an early 9-9 tie with six unanswered in a run that feature field goals from Jade Walker, Danaejah Grant and Eugeneia McPherson, and stretched the lead to 20-11 on a Grant triple.
Senior Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) buried a long jumper at 9:23 to cut the St. John's lead back down to five, 20-15, but the Red Storm responded with a 16-4 run over the next six minutes. Briana Brown came up with a pair of threes late in that stretch, hitting from deep at 4:34 and again 71 second later to make it 10 unanswered for St. John's.
The Pirates closed out the half on a high note, outscoring the Red Storm 8-3 over the final 2:17 to trail by just 11 at the intermission. The momentum carried over to the start of the second, as Johnson pulled Seton Hall within nine with 17:19.
After shooting north of 60 percent in the first half St. John's shot only 44 percent in the second, and the Red Storm started the period hitting just three of their first 10 shots. Seton Hall was never able to capitalize as SJU cooled off from the field, hitting just two of its first 10 attempts of the half.
Redshirt junior Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) led the Pirates with 16 points, but failed to record an assist for the first time this season. Simmons entered the game leading the BIG EAST and ranked No. 19 in the nation with 6.3 assists per game, and had not tallied fewer than five assists in a game since finishing with three against Savannah State on Nov. 29.
Johnson scored in double figures for the seventh time in her last eight games, shooting 5-for-10 from the field to finish with 12 points. Junior Alexis Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) rounded out the double-figure scorers for SHU, notching her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Grant came off the bench to lead the Red Storm with 14 points, as St. John's had four players finish in double figures.
Seton Hall will look to bounce back on Wednesday, Feb. 5, when it heads to Milwaukee, Wis., to face Marquette University. Game time at the Al McGuire Center is scheduled for 8 p.m. (ET).
