Seton Hall University
Marquette
Pirates Down Marquette in Overtime Thriller
2/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2014
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Sophomore Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) exploded for a Seton Hall University women's basketball program single-game record 38 points and hit a game-tying 3-pointer to force overtime with less than a second to play in regulation as Seton Hall erased a 17-point second-half deficit to come all the way back and beat Marquette, 90-86, in overtime on Saturday afternoon in Walsh Gymnasium.
The Golden Eagles (18-8, 9-6) turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 17-point cushion fewer than six minutes into the second half as Apiew Ojulu completed a 3-point play at 14:44. Marquette maintained its double-figure lead until freshman Teresa Kucera (Schwabisch Hall, Germany) heated up from downtown, hitting from distance on consecutive possessions to pull the Pirates within nine, 59-50, as the game approached the 10-minute mark.
The Pirates (16-10, 7-8) would make it a 10-0 run as redshirt junior Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) pulled up on the baseline 30 seconds later to make the margin just seven, but the Golden Eagles steadied themselves and led by as many as 12 points down the stretch and were still in front 79-69 with 2:29 to play before Seton Hall orchestrated its improbable 13-3 surge to close the game.
Richardson-Smith started things off with a triple at 2:11 and following a Cristina Bigica turnover Simmons hit twice from the line to make it 79-74. Marquette turnovers and Seton Hall's ability to capitalize proved to be vital to the Pirates' winning effort overall and down the stretch; SHU forced 21 Golden Eagle turnovers held a 26-7 lead on those additional opportunities.
Another Marquette giveaway, this time from Katie Young as Simmons came away with a loose ball along the Golden Eagle baseline, translated to more Seton Hall points when junior Alexis Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) scored two of her career-high 24 with a drive through the paint with 10 seconds to play to pull the Pirates within one.
Young atoned for the turnover by hitting both of her free throws on the other end of the court, giving Seton Hall only one chance to tie the game. With the clock winding down Simmons got the ball off to Richardson-Smith several feet behind the line on the left wing and Richardson-Smith let a high arching 3-pointer fly, sending it through the iron with just 0.7 to play.
Richardson-Smith's program record 38 points broke a 25-year old Seton Hall women's basketball record of 36 points, set by the program's all-time leading scorer Geraldine Saintilus on Jan. 4, 1989 against St. John's. Her record-breaking performance came on 15-for-27 shooting from the field, also setting a new SHU single-game mark with 15 made field goals, breaking an even older Saintilus record of 14 against Syracuse on Feb. 6, 1988.
In the extra period Marquette ran a couple of crisp plays on its first two possessions, regaining an 86-82 lead at 3:41 as Young converted from close range on the right side. But that would be the last points the Golden Eagles would score as Seton Hall scored the final eight points of the game.
Richardson-Smith tied things up after senior Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) intercepted a pass in the paint, outleting to Simmons to find Richardson-Smith for the finish on the fast break. Another Marquette turnover led to more SHU points as moments later Brooklyn Pumroy gave it away near midcourt, leading to a Simmons layup on the break, and Marquette would not come back as it missed four-straight field goal attempts to end the game.
For Seton Hall, it was the first overtime game for the program since a 62-56 loss to Alabama on Nov. 25, 2011, and somewhat amazingly the Pirates had not seen a BIG EAST game reach an extra period in more than eight years, since a 67-61 win over West Virginia on Jan. 3, 2006.
With her school record 38 points Richardson-Smith increased her season tally to 463, the seventh-highest single-season point total in program history. She is also averaging 17.8 ppg, which ranks second in the BIG EAST and would stand as the sixth-best single-season average in school history.
Brown's career-high 24 points came on 8-for-18 shooting, and she was 7-for-10 from the free-throw line, playing a career-high 40 minutes.
Simmons tallied 17 points and dished out a team-high five assists, leaving her just eight points shy of becoming just the 20th 1,000 point scorer in SHU women's basketball history.
The Pirates' big three, Richardson-Smith, Brown and Simmons, combined to score 79 points, or 87.7 percent of Seton Hall's total in the dramatic win. Taking in Kucera's eight points on 3-for-3 shooting, only four Pirates recorded a field goal. But other players made their presence felt in different ways.
Redshirt-sophomore Bra'Shey Ali (Plainfield, N.J.) was held without a point for the first time all season, but the BIG EAST's second-leading rebounder came up huge on the boards with a game-high 15, also blocking four shots and recording three steals. Johnson dished out three assists and also stole two passes.
Seton Hall hit the 90 point plateau for the third time this season and the second time in conference play, making it the first time the Pirates scored 90 points twice against conference foes in the same season since 1994. SHU snapped a five-game losing streak to Marquette and beat the Golden Eagles for the first time since Jan. 10, 2009.
At 16-10 overall Seton Hall is guaranteed its first winning season since 2008-09 (17-14) and the Pirates' seven BIG EAST wins are the most they went 9-7 during the 2006-07 campaign.
Seton Hall will play two of its final three regular season games on the road, starting next Wednesday night when it heads out to Omaha, Neb., to face the Creighton Bluejays. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. (ET).
