Tabatha Richardson-Smith Named BIG EAST Player of the Week
1/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NEW YORK - Women's basketball standout Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday (Jan. 4). It is the senior guard's first Player of the Week nod this season and the sixth of her career. Richardson-Smith averaged 21.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game during The Hall's 3-0 start to BIG EAST play last week.
After leading all players with 16 points in a 64-54 victory at Providence on Dec. 29, Richardson-Smith exploded for a season-high 27 on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in an 86-82 victory at Creighton on Dec. 31. She followed that up with an efficient 20-point, eight-rebound performance in a 99-68 rout of Marquette, not recording a turnover in 23 minutes of action. Richardson-Smith also added six steals and two blocks as The Hall got off to its first 3-0 start in BIG EAST play in program history.
A member of the Naismith Trophy Early Season Watch List, Richardson-Smith currently ranks fourth in the BIG EAST in scoring at 16.9 points per game. She also slots in at eighth in the league in rebounding with 6.6 rebounds per game and third in the conference with an 82.5 percent mark from the free throw line. She went 14-for-15 from the charity stripe in the 3-0 week.
Currently climbing the all-time Seton Hall rankings as well, Richardson-Smith moved into a tie for fifth in program history with 1,558 career points on Sunday vs. Marquette. She ranks sixth all-time with 197 career steals and is the program's all-time record holder with 232 made 3-pointers.
The No. 23 Pirates are off to a 13-1 start, their best mark through 14 games in program history. The Hall is also 3-0 in BIG EAST play for the first time. Seton Hall returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 5 to host No. 24 DePaul in a nationally-televised showdown at Walsh Gym. The rematch of the 2015 BIG EAST title game is set for a 7 p.m. tip on FS2 and the FOX Sports GO app.
