Seton Hall University
Villanova
Seniors Shine as WBB Beats Villanova 64-62
2/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - On what was an emotional Senior Day in South Orange, it was only fitting that experience delivered in crunch time for the Seton Hall women's basketball team.
Graduate guard Daisha Simmons (Jersey City, N.J.) drove in from the right wing and knocked down the game-winning lay-in with 4.8 seconds to play as the Pirates pulled out a 64-62 victory over the Villanova Wildcats on Sunday afternoon.
Graduate forward Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) broke what was the seventh tie in the game with her fourth 3-pointer to put The Hall on top, 60-57, with 3:23 to play. After Taylor Holeman knocked down two free throws for the Wildcats, Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) scored a lay-in to extend SHU's lead back to three with 2:23 remaining.
The Wildcats got a free throw from Holeman to pull within two with just over two minutes left, but the Pirates' defense hung tough to keep the lead at 62-60 entering the final minute. But just as she did all afternoon, Holeman hit another clutch shot, knocking down a 14-footer with 32 seconds remaining to knot the two teams up again before Simmons' game-deciding shot. Holeman led all scorers with a career-high 25 points, shooting 11-of-20 from the field with 10 rebounds.
Tied at 42 nearly halfway through the second stanza, Johnson knocked down a trey before Katherine Coyer evened the score up with one of her own for the Wildcats. The two teams were tied four times in a span of just three minutes, and then SHU opened up its largest lead as Ka-Deidre Simmons knocked down a lay-in and Daisha Simmons hit a three to make it 54-49.
Down 57-52, the Wildcats came climbing back as Holeman knocked down an 18-footer and Katherine Coyer dialed up her second 3-pointer of the afternoon to tie the affair at 57 apiece.
The Pirates opened the game with a lay-in by Daisha Simmons and a left-handed runner by Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) to jump out to a 4-0 lead three minutes into the action, but the Wildcats used their 3-point arsenal to get rolling.
The two teams started cold from the field overall, shooting a combined 10-for-29, but four of Villanova's five field goals were triples, as Brandi Teague gave the Wildcats a 14-11 advantage with 12:15 remaining in the first half.
After Taylor Holeman knocked down a jumper from just inside the three-point arc, Emily Leer hit another trey for the Wildcats to open up a 19-11 advantage with just over nine minutes remaining in the first stanza. The Pirates found themselves down by eight before Daisha Simmons canned a three and Richardson-Smith scored inside off a Wildcats turnover.
The Wildcats answered with a 9-4 run to close the half, as Tiffany Jones and Daisha Simmons combined for two buckets inside in the final minute, but the Pirates trailed at the break, 36-28.
Daisha Simmons and Ka-Deidre Simmons opened the second half with lay-ins to cut the Wildcats' lead to just four. Two minutes later, Daisha Simmons drilled another runner inside, and four minutes into the second half, the Villanova lead was cut to 38-35. Villanova started slow, missing 10 of its first 11 field goal attempts and the Wildcats turned the ball over three times inside of the first seven minutes of the period.
The two teams stayed that way for nearly the three minutes before Villanova had four chances to score and finally did with a 15-footer from Holeman. The Wildcats followed with two crucial turnovers in as many minutes as Johnson and Ka-Deidre Simmons combined for two straight buckets on the fast break to give SHU a 41-40 edge, its first lead since the 16:57 mark of the first half.
Daisha Simmons finished with a team-high 22 points while Johnson tallied 14 on four three-points to go along with 10 rebounds. Ka-Deidre Simmons compiled 13 points and four assists, putting her just 13 dishes shy of breaking the SHU all-time record (Kathy O'Reilly - 533). The Pirates committed just one turnover in the second half and outscored Villanova in the paint, 32-12.
In control of its own destiny to win the BIG EAST regular season crown with two road games left on the schedule, Seton Hall will return to action on Friday at Xavier. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. inside the Cintas Center.
