Ka-Deidre Simmons BIG EAST Player of the Week
1/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK - Graduate point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) played a critical role in leading the Seton Hall University women's basketball team to a pair of BIG EAST victories last week, and has been named the BIG EAST Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the second time this season and the third time in her career.
In a pair of conference wins, Simmons averaged 20.5 points, 6.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game, averaging 37.5 minutes per game while shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 92.3 percent from the free-throw line.
In Seton Hall's 78-54 win at home over Xavier on Friday night, Simmons scored a game-high 19 points with six assists and five steals. She surpassed 1,400-career points in the process, moving past Marcia Foster (1993-97) to take over sixth-place all-time at Seton Hall.
The Pirates needed a dramatic second-half comeback to pick up a 68-67 win at Providence on Sunday afternoon, and Simmons was there to seal the win down the stretch.
Not only did she drop a game-high 22 points to go along with seven assists and a pair of steals in the win over the Friars, Simmons hit the two game-winning free throws with 12 seconds remaining to complete a 17-point comeback.
SHU trailed 46-29 in the second half, and still faced a seven-point deficit with fewer than three minutes to play. The Pirates dialed up three-straight defensive stops to end the game, and it was after the second that Simmons came away with a rebound and sprinted down the court, drawing contact as she drove toward the rim, resulting in a trip to the free throw line with a chance to give the Pirates their first lead since the 12:41 mark of the first half.
Simmons calmly drained both free throw shots, she was 8-of-9 at the line in the game, and the Pirates escaped with the one-point win.
Averaging a career-best 16.8 ppg this season, Simmons ranks second at Seton Hall and fifth in the BIG EAST in scoring. Her 5.3 assists per game lead the BIG EAST, and with 458-career assists, she now sits just 75 shy of Kathy O'Reilly's ('85-89) school record of 533.
Seton Hall is 15-2 overall, and 4-1 in the BIG EAST, which marks the best start to conference play for The Hall since the 2000-01 season. The Pirates are currently in a three-way tie for first place in the conference standings, with matchups against Marquette and DePaul looming this weekend in Walsh.
Seton Hall will be back in action this Friday night, when it hosts Marquette University in Walsh Gymnasium. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be carried on the BIG EAST Digital Network and will be available on the Fox Sports Go mobile app.
BIG EAST Player of the Week
Ka-Deidre Simmons - Seton Hall, G
BIG EAST Freshman of the Week
Dorothy Adomako - Georgetown, G
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Loryn Goodwin - Butler, G
Aliyyah Handford - St. John's, G
Evi Iiskola - Providence, F
Jessica January - DePaul, G
Emily Leer - Villanova, F/C
