Hall Hosts Hoyas on Play 4 Kay Night
2/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RV/RV SETON HALL (22-4, 11-3) vs. GEORGETOWN (4-22, 2-12)
South Orange, N.J. (Walsh Gymnasium) • Friday, Feb. 20 • 7:00 PM
Broadcast: BIG EAST Digital Network (Play-by-play: Jon Schaeffer; Color: David Gass)
Radio: WSOU 89.5 FM (Play-by-play: Rohit Ravi; Color: John Pirsos)
Seton Hall Game Notes 
| Fox Sports Go |
The Seton Hall University women's basketball team opens up its final home stand of the season when it hosts Georgetown University for its annual Play 4 Kay game on Friday night in Walsh Gym at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network and be available via the Fox Sports Go app.
Last weekend on the road, Seton Hall came away with mixed results. The Pirates were able to move back into first place in the BIG EAST standings with a dramatic 81-80 win over DePaul, picking up the season sweep of the Blue Demons, but they lost a three-point game at Marquette on Sunday, 73-70.
The Pirates currently sit a half-game back of DePaul, but Seton Hall has played one less game and still controls its own destiny for the postseason. That quest resumes with a pair of home games this weekend, starting with a Georgetown team that took The Hall to overtime when they met last month.
Georgetown has lost 10 in a row, but is bolstered by dynamic freshman Dorothy Adomako, who is averaging 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game; she had 25 points and nine boards in the first meeting with SHU.
The Hoyas gave Seton Hall all it could handle, leading by 12 points in the second half thanks to a hot shooting start. Georgetown made seven 3-pointers in that game, despite averaging just 4.3 per game this season, and the Hoyas were nearly perfect at the free-throw line, making 14-of-16 attempts, a stark contrast to its season free-throw shooting percentage of 66.0 percent.
Still, Seton Hall found a way to win. After being held without a point in the first half, junior Tabatha Richardson-Smith erupted for 29 points in the second half and overtime, while Daisha Simmons led the Pirates with 32 points, hitting the game-tying shot with 12 seconds remaining in regulation.
Once the offense got on track for The Hall, scoring came quickly. The Pirates dropped 51 points in the second half, and used all of the momentum from the run to tie the game to pull away to the tune of a 17-3 edge in overtime. SHU shot 43.5 percent from 3-point range, draining 10 3-pointers, five coming from Richardson-Smith.
The Pirates have been exceptional in Walsh Gym this season, posting a 15-1 record on their home floor and having a 20-game home winning streak snapped by Creighton two weeks ago. The goal of finishing the regular season strong starts on Friday night, where the Pirates aim to begin another home winning streak.
SETON HALL STATUS
- After an emotional win at DePaul last Friday night, a game that saw three lead changes during the final 30 seconds of play, Seton Hall suffered a bit of a letdown at Marquette last Sunday, losing 73-70.
- Leading the Pirates in scoring twice last week, Daisha Simmons was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the third time this season. She averaged 24.5 ppg for The Hall against DePaul and Marquette.
- Seton Hall sits a half game back of DePaul in the BIG EAST standings, but SHU has played one fewer game than the Blue Demons and holds the tie breaker over them because of its season sweep.
GEORGETOWN STATUS
- Georgetown won two of its first four conference games but hast lost 10 in a row, being swept at home by Xavier and Butler last weekend.
- Freshman Dorothy Adomako continues to be the engine that powers Georgetown as she is the only Hoya averaging double figures (13.2 ppg), and is one of two players to start all 26 games.
- Georgetown ranks eighth in the BIG EAST in scoring margin, and is giving up 72.4 ppg. The offense has been struggling since the last meeting with Seton Hall, as the Hoyas have scored fewer than 60 points in four of their last five games.
LAST TIME VS. GEORGETOWN
- It took an overtime period, but Seton Hall was able to outlast Georgetown 99-85 when the teams met last month in the nation's capital. The Pirates trailed by 12 points in the second half, but Daisha Simmons hit the game-tying shot with 12 seconds remaining.
- Daisha Simmons scored 32 points to lead SHU, but Tabatha Richardson-Smith chipped in with 29, all of which came in the second half and overtime after she was held scoreless in the first half.
- The 99 points scored represent the fourth-highest single-game tally in program history.
- Georgetown saw five players score in double figures, with freshman Dorothy Adomako leading the way with 25 points.
THREE-POINT RECORD WITHIN REACH
- Junior Tabatha Richardson-Smith is within striking distance of becoming Seton Hall's all-time leader in 3-point field goals.
- The sharp shooting junior has 175-career 3-pointers, needing just four to move past Brittany Morris (2009-13) for first place.
- Richardson-Smith has a team-leading 70 3-pointers this season and ranks first in the BIG EAST and 21st in the nation averaging 2.8 3-pointers per game.
ASSISTS RECORD ON THE HORIZON
- Already ranked second in assists in Seton Hall history, graduate student Ka-Deidre Simmons is on the verge of becoming the Pirates' all-time assist leader.
- Just the second player in program history to top 500-career assists, Simmons currently ranks second at Seton Hall with 510-career assists. She set the SHU single-season record with 174 assists during the 2013-14 campaign.
- She needs just 24 more assists to pass Kathy O'Reilly's (1985-89) program record of 533.
- Simmons leads the BIG EAST and ranks 24th in the country, averaging 5.5 assists per game this season.
ATTACKING THE GLASS
- Seton Hall has been in need of an additional rebounder, and as of late Tabatha Richardson-Smith has been filling the role.
- For the season, Richardson-Smith is averaging just 7.1 rebounds per game, but over the past 12 games that number increases to 9.9 per contest.
- She set a career-high with 15 rebounds in the win over DePaul on Jan. 18, which along with 35 points resulted in her first double-double of the season.
DID YOU KNOW?
- There is only one undefeated team remaining in NCAA Division I women's basketball this season, the Princeton Tigers, but the last team to hand Princeton a loss was Seton Hall.
- Seton Hall hosted Princeton in the second round of the WNIT last season, with the Pirates prevailing 75-74 in Walsh Gym.
