Seton Hall University
Marquette
Players Mentioned
Pirates Cruise Past Marquette into BIG EAST Semi
3/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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ROSEMONT, ILL. - Behind 31 points from junior Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) the No. 1 seed Seton Hall Pirates cruised past No. 8 Marquette, 77-51, in the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. The Pirates, who advance to the conference semifinals for the first time since 1996, will face either No. 4 seed St. John's or No. 5 seed Creighton on Monday night at 5:30 p.m. (CT).
Seton Hall, which is playing as the No. 1 seed in the tournament for the first time in program history, picked up its largest margin of victory in a BIG EAST Tournament game. Richardson-Smith finished just two points shy of matching the SHU record for points, 33, which was set by Yolanda Rouse against Boston College in 1989.
The Pirates, who have now won five in a row since a 73-70 setback at Marquette three weeks ago, improved to 27-4 overall, matching the program single-season record for wins, set by the 1993-94 squad that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
With 11 rebounds, it was the seventh double-double of the year for Richardson-Smith. Graduate Daisha Simmons (Jersey City, N.J.) also had a double-double, scoring 14 points with 11 boards in just 25 minutes of action.
Graduate Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) rounded out the double-digit scorers, finishing with 12. More significantly, her eight assists were the most ever for an SHU player in a BIG EAST Tournament game and allowed her to break the Pirates' single-season record of 174, which she set just last season; Simmons has 175 assists this year.
Ka-Deidre Simmons also jumped past Ozelina Gorham for second-place all-time in scoring with 1,669 points.
After getting off to a sluggish start, shooting just 5-of-24 to begin the game, Seton Hall's offense came to life over the final eight minutes of the first half. As has been the case all season, the Pirates were fueled by transition baskets and points off turnovers. SHU broke a 17-17 tie with a 23-6 run to end the half as the Golden Eagles shot just 2-of-10 and turned the ball over six times down the stretch.
It was a burst of 12 points in just over three minutes that made the biggest difference in what was a 40-23 lead at the half. The Pirates were in front 19-17 when Chizoba Ekedigwe (Laurel, Md.) swatted a McKayla Yentz jumper, Daisha Simmons came away with the rebound and scored an easy two on the break to push the lead to four.
During the next Marquette possession, Richardson-Smith intercepted a pass from Arlesia Morse, laying it in to stretch the lead to eight, and another Richardson-Smith takeaway and layup on the fast break extended the Pirate lead to double digits for the first time, as The Hall led 29-19 with 4:17 left in the half.
Richardson-Smith shot 9-of-18 from the field in the first half and was just one board shy of recording a double-double through just 20 minutes. Seton Hall forced 17 turnovers, converting them into 12 points, eight coming on the break.
Marquette would pull back within 12 points early in the second as Seton Hall experienced a scoreless drought of nearly four minutes. It was players other than Morse getting involved in the action that sparked the 7-0 run. For a period from 9:32 in the first until 17:46 in the second, Morse was the only player to score for the Golden Eagles, coming up with 12-straight points.
Finally, Kenisha Bell scored in the paint and then Tie Elbert knocked down a 3-pointer as Marquette drew within 42-30. That is as close as they would get. Daisha Simmons scored six points in 1:50, capping off a 9-0 run, and the lead was suddenly 51-30.
Once Richardson-Smith started to get hot from the outside the Seton Hall lead expanded rapidly, as her second triple of the period made it 61-37; three of her four 3-pointers came during the final 20 minutes.
Seton Hall forced 22 turnovers and finished with 13 steals, leading to a 25-9 advantage in points off turnovers. Marquette was limited to just 29.0 percent shooting, and was 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) from 3-point range. Morse finished with 24 points to lead the Golden Eagles.
Monday night's BIG EAST Semifinal matchup will air nationally on Fox Sports 1. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (CT).
