Ka-Deidre Simmons Hon. Mention All-American
3/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Seton Hall University graduate point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) has been named the fourth Associated Press Division I Women's Basketball Honorable Mention All-American in program history, Tuesday it was announced by the association.
Simmons, who earlier this month was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-District Team, making her an All-American candidate for that organization as well, is Seton Hall's first Honorable Mention All-American since Dana Wynne received the honor following the 1996-97 season.
Leading Seton Hall to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in two decades, Simmons recently wrapped up what will be regarded as one of the most impressive careers for a Pirate in program history. She is Seton Hall's all-time leader in assists with 562, setting a program record with 194 this past season.
Simmons is also second all-time at Seton Hall in scoring with 1,717 points, and second in steals with 257. She is SHU's all-time leader in made free throws (502) and started 126 of her 129 games played over four seasons.
The All-America recognition is the latest in a string of accolades for a point guard that earlier this year was named to the Nancy Lieberman Watch List and the Naismith Player of the Year Award Midseason 30 list. She was named First-Team All-BIG EAST for a second-straight year, and received BIG EAST All-Tournament Team Honors for a second time.
Over the course of the season, Simmons was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week three times, and earned Met Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Division I Player of the Week honors on two occasions.
She has two of the top-seven single-season scoring efforts in school history, finishing with 578 points in 2014-15, good for sixth all-time. Her 194 assists this past year broke the previous record of 174, which she set just a year ago.
Simmons scored in double figures in 31-of-34 games last year, netting a career-best 28 points on two occasions, highlighted by a 28 points, 11 assist performance in a home victory over DePaul back on Jan. 18. Her 5.7 assists per game led the BIG EAST and ranked 22nd in the nation.
In addition to reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995, Seton Hall posted a school-record 28 victories, ending the year with a 28-6 overall mark. The Pirates went 15-3 in BIG EAST play, and won the conference Regular Season title and earned the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time.
With Simmons running the point, Seton Hall shattered its single-season scoring mark, with 2,569 points in 2014-15, an average of 75.6 ppg, which ranked 22nd in the country.
