RV/#25 WBB Travels to Xavier Friday Night
2/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RV/#25 SETON HALL (24-4, 13-3) at XAVIER (15-12, 7-9)
Cincinnati, Ohio (Cintas Center) • Friday, Feb. 27 • 7:00 PM
Broadcast: Xavier All-Access (www.goxavier.com)
Radio: WSOU 89.5 FM (Play-by-play: Clayton Collier; Color: Matt Valentine)
Seton Hall Game Notes 
| Live Video |
The RV/#25 Seton Hall University women's basketball team will kick off its regular season ending road trip in Cincinnati, Ohio, at Xavier University on Friday night at 7 p.m.
Entering the final weekend of conference play, Seton Hall trails DePaul University by a half game for first place in the league, but with two wins this weekend, the Pirates can clinch a share of the BIG EAST regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament.
The first test of the weekend comes against a Musketeers team that has played very well in the Cintas Center this season, posting a 10-4 record. Seton Hall won the first meeting of the year, 78-54, thanks to a strong second half and a balanced scoring effort.
After leading by just six points at the half, Seton Hall outscored Xavier 39-21 in the second period, limiting the Musketeers to just seven field goals. That win marked one of two games this year Seton Hall saw five players score in double figures. Ka-Deidre Simmons scored a game high 19 points while Daisha Simmons registered a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Players to watch this weekend will be Briana Glover, Raeshaun Gaffney and Maleeka Kynard. Kynard led Xavier in its last meeting with Seton Hall, sinking three 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 14 points.
Glover (11.1 ppg) and Gaffney (10.1 ppg) lead the Musketeers offensively, but both struggled shooting the basketball back in January. Glover shot just 1-for-8 to finish with four points, while Gaffney scored five points, but made just two of her four field goal attempts.
Xavier has exhibited a propensity towards turning the ball over all season, averaging 17.4 per game, and the Pirates forced 22 turnovers during that first meeting back in January, extra possessions that led to 24 points.
Seton Hall displayed an impressive level of defensive intensity last weekend, particularly in its 95-68 win over Georgetown Friday night. Coming off just their third conference loss of the year, the Pirates applied substantial pressure all game, forcing 29 turnovers, which led to a season-high 39 points off turnovers. Needing two wins this week, the Pirates are likely to approach both games with the same goal.
With Tabatha Richardson-Smith passing the all-time 3-point record last weekend, the career numbers watch for this weekend will focus on Ka-Deidre Simmons. With 1,616 points, she currently ranks fifth all-time at Seton Hall, but needs just seven points to jump up to fourth, and 17 to move into third.
The Seton Hall career-record for assists is also within reach. She has 521 in her career and is just 12 shy of matching the all-time record of 533 held by Kathy O'Reilly. So far this year Simmons leads the BIG EAST with 5.5 assists per game, so she would need to play slightly above her season average to obtain that record before the start of postseason play.
SETON HALL STATUS
- Seton Hall concluded an impressive 2014-15 home campaign with a dramatic 64-62 win over Villanova last Sunday. Graduate Daisha Simmons hit the game-winning layup with 4.8 to play, tallying a team-high 22 points.
- Seton Hall moved back into the USA Today/Coaches Top-25 Poll on Tuesday afternoon, checking in at No. 25 after falling out for one week.
- Graduate forward Janee Johnson was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the first time in her career. She averaged 14.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.0 3-pointers per game in a pair of wins last week.
- Seton Hall controls its own destiny to earn the No. 1 seed at the BIG EAST Championship, needing to win its final two regular season games.
XAVIER STATUS
- Xavier enters the weekend with the No. 7 seed locked up for the BIG EAST Tournament. The Musketeers lost at Butler on Sunday, 71-53, and have dropped three of their last four games.
- The Musketeers have two players averaging double figures in Briana Glover (11.1 ppg) and Raeshaun Gaffney (10.1 ppg). Glover was limited to two points on 1-of-8 shooting against Butler on Sunday.
- Junior guard Aliyah Zantt has scored in double figures in consecutive games for the Musketeers, averaging 13.5 ppg during that stretch.
- Xavier has struggled to protect the basketball during conference play, turning it over 18.1 times per game with a -5.2 turnover margin.
LAST TIME VS. XAVIER
- Seton Hall and Xavier last met back on Jan. 9, with Seton Hall picking up a 78-54 win. The Pirates led by just six at the half, but limited the Musketeers to just seven field goals in the second half.
- Balanced scoring told the story for Seton Hall, which had five players score in double figures for one of just two games this year.
- Ka-Deidre Simmons led SHU with 19 points, and Daisha Simmons registered a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
- Seton Hall forced 22 Xavier turnovers, scoring 24 points off those opportunities.
- Maleeka Kynard was hot from 3-point range, knocking down 3-for-4 long-range shots to lead the Musketeers with 14 points.
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 third at Seton Hall and sixth in the BIG EAST, averaging 17.0 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.
FIRST HONOR ROLL FOR JOHNSON
- Graduate forward Janee Johnson was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 23, marking the first time in her career she received weekly conference accolades.
- She nearly averaged a double-double of 14.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in a pair of wins over Georgetown and Villanova the previous week.
- Johnson did have a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards in a 64-62 win over Villanova.
- She hit four 3-pointers in each game, shooting 8-of-14 from long distance for the week.
DEFENDING THE FREE-THROW LINE
- Seton Hall's opponents have been lighting it up from the free throw line as of late. Over the last eight games, teams are shooting an incredible 80.1 percent from the free throw line against The Hall.
- Comparatively, the national leader in free throw shooting percentage is Washington, and they shoot just 78.1 percent from the charity stripe.
- During that same span, SHU trails its opponents 121-84 in made free throws, meaning the Pirates on average are operating at -4.6 points per game at the line despite outshooting opponents from the line 152-151.
PIRATES LOOKING TO CLOSE STRONG
- Not only is Seton Hall focused on ending the regular season on a high note, but the Pirates are looking to improve on their Sunday results during conference play.
- So far this year during traditional BIG EAST Friday-Sunday weekends, Seton Hall is 6-0 in Friday but 4-2 during Sunday games, meaning two of the team's four losses this year have come on a BIG EAST Sunday.
- Seton Hall's scoring margin as a result is also drastically different from Friday to Sunday. On Friday's, the Pirates are +18.7 ppg on average, but on Sunday, that scoring margin dips to +4.3 ppg.
MOST CONFERENCE WINS IN A TWO DECADES
- Beating Villanova 64-62 on Feb. 22, Seton Hall improved to 13-3 in the BIG EAST, which is the most conference wins for the program in two decades.
- The last time SHU won at least 13 BIG EAST contests came back during the 1993-94 season when the Pirates finished 16-2 in league play, which is the program record for conference wins.
WINNING THE CLOSE ONES
- With its 64-62 win over Villanova on Feb. 22, Seton Hall improved to 5-2 this season in games decided by just one possession. 4Additionally, The Hall is 4-0 in games decided by 4-5 points, making the Pirates 9-2 this year in games decided by five points or fewer.
- Last year, the Pirates were 4-4 in contests decided by three points or fewer, with two of those wins coming in the WNIT.
- Under head coach Anthony Bozzella, Seton Hall is now 9-6 in one possession ball games.
- The 99-85 win at Georgetown on Jan. 25 was the first overtime game of the year for The Hall. SHU is 2-1 in overtime games under Coach Bozzella.
