Daisha Simmons Named to Honor Roll
1/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK - RV/#25 Seton Hall University graduate guard Daisha Simmons (Jersey City, N.J.) was named to the BIG EAST Women's Basketball Weekly Honor Roll Monday it was announced by the league office. Simmons, who led the conference in scoring with 25.5 ppg last week, helped the Pirates pick up a pair of wins on the road and maintain sole possession of first place in the conference standings at the midway point of the BIG EAST season.
Simmons led all scorers as the Pirates picked up a 59-56 victory at Villanova University on Friday night in a game that was televised nationally on Fox Sports 1. She finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Two days later, Seton Hall found itself down by as many as 11 points in the second half at Georgetown, and Simmons helped lead The Hall all the way back to force overtime, and eventually a 99-85 win.
Simmons finished with 32 points, topping 30 points for the second time this season, and shot 12-of-20 from the field with a team-high six assists. It was not just the volume of her scoring but the ability to come through in the clutch. Simmons scored 13 points in the second half, eight of which came in the final 3:22 of regulation, including the game-tying layup on a difficult angle from the baseline with just 12 seconds remaining.
She added six more points in overtime, and then junior Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) sealed the win with eight points in the extra period, during which SHU outscored the Hoyas 17-3. The 99 points scored are the fourth-most in a single game in program history, as Seton Hall came within one point of reaching the century mark for the second time over a three-game span.
For the week, Simmons averaged 25.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, while shooting 47.6 percent (20-of-42) from the field.
With the two road wins, Seton Hall improved to 19-2 overall and 8-1 in the BIG EAST, maintaining control of first place in the league standings while holding a one-game lead over DePaul and Butler with nine regular season game remaining.
The Pirates received 26 votes in the latest Associated Press Top-25 poll released Monday afternoon and have now received votes in that poll for six-straight weeks. Seton Hall checked in at No. 25 in last week's USA Today Coaches Top-25 Poll, making its first appearance in those rankings since Jan. 31, 1995; The Hall cracked the AP Top-25 at No. 23 in late December.
Seton Hall returns to action this Sunday afternoon when it hosts St. John's University in Walsh Gymnasium at 2 p.m.
BIG EAST Player of the Week
Brittany Hrynko - DePaul, G
BIG EAST Freshman of the Week
Dorothy Adomako - Georgetown, F
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Alexis Akin-Otiko - Creighton, F
Caroline Coyer - Villanova, G
Aliyyah Handford - St. John's, G
Daisha Simmons - Seton Hall, G
Ijeoma Uchendu - Butler, F
