Seton Hall University
Villanova
WBB Makes Late Charge, but Falls to 'Nova 62-57
2/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2014
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall University women's basketball team was unable to come all the way back from a sluggish offensive start as the Pirates fell to Villanova, 62-57, on Sunday afternoon in Walsh Gymnasium.
Villanova ended the first half on an 18-0 run and led by as many as 22 points with 15 minutes to play before Seton Hall stormed back, scoring 42 points over the final 14:50.
Freshman Teresa Kucera (Schwabisch Hall, Germany) provided the spark that got the Seton Hall offense on track, draining a 3-pointer five minutes into the second half to end a 15-minute field goal drought and begin the Pirate comeback.
Steadily Seton Hall climbed back into the game as junior Alexis Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) made a move to the rim to cut the lead down to 14 at 10:25 and 1:20 later redshirt freshman Sidney Cook (Parkton, N.C.) grabbed an offensive board and quickly put it up and in to make it 42-31.
Cook was key to the Pirates' ability to carve away at the one time seemingly insurmountable Villanova lead, scoring seven points over a span of just 2:10, also pulling down seven rebounds in the second half alone. Another bucket on a second-chance opportunity with fewer than seven minutes to play resulted in a single-digit Wildcat lead for the first time in nearly 20 minutes of game time.
The Pirates would pull within four with 3:33 remaining as senior Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) scored two of her nine points on a move in the paint and after that bucket came perhaps the most critical late-game moment.
On the ensuing Villanova possession sophomore Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) deflected an entry pass in the paint, providing Seton Hall with a chance to make it a one possession game. A moment later she fired an open three from the right corner that missed long, only to see redshirt sophomore Bra'Shey Ali (Plainfield, N.J.) come away with the offensive board.
Ali found Richardson-Smith for another 3-point try, this time from the left wing, but again she misfired. Katherine Coyer secured the rebound for Villanova and Lauren Burford connected from deep to push the Wildcat advantage back up to seven points with just under 2:30 to play and Seton Hall was unable to come any closer than four points down the stretch.
Redshirt junior Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) led Seton Hall with 15 points, but the Pirate point guard who entered the game ranked No. 19 in the nation with 6.0 assists per game failed to record an assist for just the second time this season.
Cook finished with seven points and nine boards, Johnson added nine points and three rebounds, and Brown finished with eight points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists. Ali secured a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with six points, as the Pirates won the battle on the glass 40-36.
Four Wildcats scored in double figures and Villanova was led by Burford and Caroline Coyer's 15 points apiece.
Seton Hall will begin a two-game road trip on Wednesday, Feb. 12, when it heads down to the nation's capital to face Georgetown University. Tipoff at the McDonough Center is scheduled for 8 p.m.
