Seton Hall University
Louisville
Upset Bid at Louisville Falls Short
2/28/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Louisville led by as many as 13 points in the second half but by holding the Cardinals without a field goal for the final 6:57 of the game the Pirates were able to pull as close as six points, 64-58, on an Alexis Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) bank shot with just over a minute to play.
However, Louisville (23-6, 11-4) was 12-for-12 from the free throw line over the final 6:28 of the game, including a stretch of eight-straight makes in the final minute.
Morris scored 20 points for the fifth time this season and third time over the last four games, sinking three three-pointers to extend her school record to 168 long-range makes.
Redshirt sophomore Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) finished with 18 points to go along with seven assists, six rebounds and three steals, while Brown scored a career-high 14 points and nailed the first three-pointer of her career.
Simmons scored the first six points of the game for Seton Hall, making a tough layup and then a floater down the middle of the lane to give the Pirates an early 4-0 lead. Behind five points for Monique Reid the Cardinals came back with eight unanswered points, a run that was snapped by a Simmons mid-range jumper.
Morris' first triple of the game resulted in an 11-11 tie, only again Louisville regained the advantage with a brief scoring spurt, pulling ahead by six, 17-11, following a Sheronne Valis free-throw.
The next five points of the game belonged to the Pirates. Morris connected from deep for a second time and Simmons' fourth field goal of the half made it a one-point game.
The Cardinals' offense was clicking down the stretch as Louisville put up 19 points over the final 7:41 of the half, led by Bria Smith's eight points.
Louisville shot 57.1 percent (12-for-21) from the floor in the opening period and hit five of its final six shots from the field, with the only miss coming on a Shoni Schimmel three-point attempt as time expired.
Seton Hall (9-19, 4-11) did a better job of getting to the rim in the first half, controlling the painted area by a 16-8 margin, but Louisville drained five of its eight three-point shots and the Cardinals were 7-for-10 from the line.
Brown scored the first five points of the second half for Seton Hall, pulling the Pirates within five points, 38-33, as she converted a three-point play by catching the Cardinal defense off guard and sprinting through the middle of the lane for a layup as she was fouled.
Powered by an 11-2 run that featured a pair of Shoni Schimmel three pointers Louisville was able to extend its lead all the way to 13 points only to have Seton Hall come back to pull within seven, 51-44, thanks to a Breanna Jones (Springfield, Va.) jumper and a three for Brown.
Louisville answered right back as Jude Schimmel hit a high-arching three on the Cardinals next possession to go back up by 13. The Cardinals would hit just two more field goals over the final 10 minutes of the game, relying on efficient free throw shooting to clinch the win.
Antonita Slaughter led Louisville with 17 points and Shoni Schimmel finished with 15 points and six assists. The Cardinals were 24-for-30 from the free throw line and 8-for-14 from three, scoring just 18 points in the paint.
Seton Hall wraps up regular season action on Saturday, March 2, when it hosts St. John's University for Senior Day in South Orange, N.J., at 9 p.m. Prior to the game Seton Hall will honor its four seniors who will be suiting up for their final contest at Walsh Gymnasium: Terry Green (Brentwood, N.Y.), Jones, Alexandra Maseko (Harare, Zimbabwe) and Morris.
