Seton Hall University
Saint Peter's
Daisha Simmons Leads WBB Past Saint Peter's
11/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score | Box Score 
| Highlights
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall University women's basketball team used a fast first-half start and saw graduate Daisha Simmons (Jersey City, N.J.) score 30 points as the Pirates picked up a 75-45 victory over Saint Peter's University in the SHU Thanksgiving Classic semifinal on Saturday afternoon in Walsh Gymnasium.
Daisha Simmons scored 16 of her team-high 30 points in the first half to power the Pirates to a big early advantage. Saint Peter's (0-3) turned the ball over nine times and missed its first 12 field goal attempts before Hala Mostafa finally scored in the paint at 7:43.
By then Seton Hall (4-1) already led 19-4, and Daisha Simmons played a huge role in that initial run. She knocked down her second three of the game at 10:24 to make it 13-2, and stripped Mostafa near midcourt, converting a turnover into a 3-point play the other way, resulting in a 21-2 Seton Hall lead.
Daisha Simmons finished with four steals, to go along with eight boards, and Seton Hall made Saint Peter's pay for turning the ball over all day. The Peacocks finished with 24 giveaways as a team, leading to 31 points for The Hall.
After leading by as many as 19 in the first half, Seton Hall did suffer through a field goal drought of its own late in the period, seeing its advantage dip all the way down to 12 points, but Bra'Shey Ali (Plainfield, N.J.) and Daisha Simmons were there to kick start the offense.
With under a minute to play, Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.) found Ali for an easy two, and moments before the half Daisha Simmons came up with yet another steal, scoring on the fast break with a left-handed scoop shot before time expired, and the Pirates led 34-18 at the half.
Seton Hall increased its defensive intensity to start the second half, and the lead surpassed 20 points for the first time after Ka-Deidre Simmons pickpocketed Antonia Smith and coasted down the floor for a lay in. Following that make, the Pirates went into a press, resulting in yet another turnover, this time Daisha Simmons came away with it, and her layup made it 45-22 with 16:09 remaining.
The Pirates' advantage would dip below 20 points just once more, but after Smith found Mostafa under the basket, Seton Hall went on a 18-3 run over the next seven minutes, leading by as many as 34 points, 63-29, when who other than Daisha Simmons drove through the lane for two.
Ali recorded her second-straight double-double after finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) rounded out the Pirates' double figure scorers, needing just one 3-pointer to tally 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Janee Johnson (Matthews, N.C.) did not get a shot to drop, but she did haul in a team-best 11 boards on the day.
Ka-Deidre Simmons saw her 33-consecutive games with double figures come to an end, finishing with eight points in the win, but added in four assists and three steals. Alyssa Velles came off the bench to lead Saint Peter's with 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting; she was the only player to finish in double figures for the Peacocks.
Seton Hall will face Saint Joseph's University in the SHU Thanksgiving Classic Final on Sunday, Nov. 30, at 2:30 p.m.
