Pirates Celebrate Senior Day Sunday Against 'Nova
2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RV/RV SETON HALL (23-4, 12-3) vs. VILLANOVA (16-11, 10-5)
South Orange, N.J. (Walsh Gymnasium) • Sunday, Feb. 22 • 2:00 PM
Broadcast: Pirate Sports Network (Play-by-play: Jon Schaeffer; Color: David Gass)
Radio: WSOU 89.5 FM (Play-by-play: Taco Wallace; Color: Dick Vitale)
Seton Hall Game Notes 
| Villanova Game Notes | Live Video |
The Seton Hall University women's basketball team will wrap up the home portion of its schedule when it hosts the Villanova Wildcats on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m. Prior to the game, the Pirates will celebrate Senior Day, honoring Chizoba Ekedigwe, Janee Johnson, Daisha Simmons and Ka-Deidre Simmons, who will be suiting up at Walsh Gym for the last time.
Seton Hall was able to keep pace with DePaul in the race for the BIG EAST regular season title thanks to its 95-68 win over Georgetown, but the Pirates will face a very different test against Villanova on Sunday. The Wildcats had won three in a row, before being edged at St. John's, 56-51, on Friday night.
Since the start of BIG EAST play, Villanova boasts one of the hottest scorers in the league in Caroline Coyer, who is averaging 15.6 ppg against conference foes while shooting an impressive 46 percent from 3-point range while averaging 2.7 3-pointers per contests.
Following Coyer's lead, Villanova has been outstanding from 3-point range as a team. The Wildcats had gone three-straight games with at least 10-pointers prior to Friday night's loss, but they still managed to sink eight triples in that game.
When Seton Hall won at Villanova, 59-56, earlier this year, the Wildcats did hit 11 threes, but they needed to tie their season-high in attempts with 42 shots from beyond the arc.
That marked the second year in a row Seton Hall won at Villanova, as these two teams have alternated wins and losses over the last four meetings, with neither team winning on their home court. Last season, after SHU won on the road, the Wildcats came into Walsh and dominated the first half, leading 30-14 at the intermission. The Pirates would make a run, but were unable to completely overcome the cold start.
During that win at The Pavilion back in January, Daisha Simmons led The Hall, scoring 12 of her game-high 19 points in the second half. Seton Hall led by as many as 13 points in the second period, thanks to a decisive 9-0 run midway through the stanza. Villanova closed to within one possession with just under three minutes to play, but neither team scored the rest of the way.
Seton Hall is likely to target the same advantages it had in that first meeting. The Pirates were +20 on the boards, outrebounding the Wildcats 56-36, with 12 second-chance points leading to a 28-14 advantage in paint scoring. Seton Hall attempted just 12 3-pointers in the win.
Whenever a team faces Villanova, turnovers are sure to be a factor, because the Wildcats continually are one of the nation's best at protecting the basketball. Villanova averages just 8.7 turnovers per game, and uncharacteristically turned it over 13 times in the loss at St. John's on Friday.
Against Seton Hall last month, the Wildcats committed a mere three turnovers, as the Pirates came away with a season-low three steals and scored just four points off turnovers.
SETON HALL STATUS
- Seton Hall bounced back from a tough loss by turning in a dominant performance against Georgetown on Friday night, picking up a 95-68 win. The Pirates poured in 57 points in the first half, leading 57-30 at the break.
- Tabatha Richardson-Smith scored a team-high 23 points and knocked down four 3-pointers, breaking the SHU all-time 3-point record in the process. She now has 179-career 3-pointers.
- Seton Hall forced 29 Georgetown turnovers and scored a season-high 39 points on those extra possessions.
- Five players scored in double figures on Friday night. SHU shot 48.4 percent from the field and knocked down 11 3-pointers.
VILLANOVA STATUS
- Villanova had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 56-51 loss at St. John's on Friday night. Emily Leer led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points and was one of two players in double figures for Villanova.
- The Wildcats uncharacteristically turned the ball over 13 times on Friday, despite averaging fewer than nine turnovers per game this year. Villanova was effective from 3-point range, connecting on eight shots from deep.
- Caroline Coyer has been outstanding in BIG EAST play, averaging a team-best 15.6 points per game while shooting 46 percent from 3-point range. Leer is averaging 12.8 ppg against conference foes.
LAST TIME VS. VILLANOVA
- Seton Hall led by as many as 13 points in the second half and withstood a late rally to win at Villanova, 59-56, back on Jan. 23. It marked the second-straight win for The Hall at The Pavilion.
- Daisha Simmons recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds to led The Hall. SHU made just three 3-point field goals but was +14 on the glass.
- The game turned on a 9-0 SHU run midway through the second half that helped turn a tie ball game into a 13-point advantage.
- The Pirates finished with three steals as Villanova, who leads the nation in fewest turnovers, gave the ball away only three times all game.
- The Wildcats made 11 3-pointers, but it took 42 attempts.
SIMMONS NAMED TO LIEBERMAN/NAISMITH LISTS
- Graduate point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons has been named to the Watch List for the prestigious Nancy Lieberman Award and the Naismith Award Midseason 30 List.
- Simmons is one of just 31 players in NCAA Division I to land on the Watch List and is the only player from the BIG EAST conference to earn the distinction.
- She currently ranks second at Seton Hall and sixth in the BIG EAST, averaging 17.2 ppg and leads the league and is 24th nationally with 5.5 assists per game.
- The Watch List will be narrowed to 15 players and then five finalists, with the winner announced at the WBCA Awards Banquet at the Final Four in Tampa, Fla.
ALL-TIME 3-POINT LEADER
- With her four 3-pointers against Georgetown on Feb. 20, junior Tabatha Richardson-Smith became the Seton Hall all-time leader in 3-point field goals with 179.
- She passed Brittany Morris, who held the record of 178, set from 2009-13. 4Richardson-Smith has a team-leading 74 3-pointers this season and ranks first in the BIG EAST and 18th in the nation averaging 2.9 8 3-pointers per game.
- She set an SHU single-season record with 85 3-pointers during the 2013-14 season.
MOST CONFERENCE WINS IN A DECADE
- Beating Georgetown 95-68 on Feb. 20, Seton Hall improved to 12-3 in the BIG EAST, matching the most conference wins for the program in two decades.
- The last time SHU won 12 BIG EAST contests came back during the 1994-95 season when the Pirates finished 12-6 in league play.
- The program record for BIG EAST wins is 16, set during the 1993-94 season that saw SHU reach the NCAA Sweet 16.
JOHNSON FROM DOWNTOWN
- Graduate Janee Johnson has emerged as one of Seton Hall's most effective outside shooting threats.
- Entering the season, Johnson had hit just a pair of 3-pointers in her career, both of which came last season. This year? She is second on the team with 41 3-pointers.
- Her shooting has been particularly sharp as of late, averaging 2.3 3-pointers per game over the past 13 games, hitting a career-high five triples against Providence on Feb. 6, when she finished with a career-high 17 points.
- She currently ranks third in the BIG EAST with a 38.3 (41-of-107) shooting percentage from beyond the arc.
- Johnson has connected on at least one 3-point attempt in 10-straight games.
