Seton Hall University
American
Ali Leads Hall Past American in WNIT First Round
3/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2014
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Led by Bra'Shey Ali's (Plainfield, N.J.) 18 points and 20 rebounds the Seton Hall University women's basketball team held off American University, 63-60, in the first round of the 2014 WNIT on Thursday night in Walsh Gymnasium.
Seton Hall, which is making its first postseason appearance since 2007 and just the sixth in program history, advances to the second round of the WNIT for the third time. The Pirates will host the Princeton Tigers in their second round match-up on Sunday, March 23, in Walsh Gymnasium at 5 p.m.
Princeton advanced with a 94-76 victory over VCU on Wednesday. The Pirates have never hosted back-to-back WNIT games and Seton Hall will be hosting consecutive postseason contests for the first time since its run to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1994, when the Hall's first two victories came inside of Walsh.
Joining Ali in double figures for the Pirates was redshirt junior Ka-Deidre Simmons (Newark, N.J.), who finished with 14 points and added to her Seton Hall single-season record assist total with six dimes. Sophomore Tabatha Richardson-Smith (Bay City, Texas) drained a pair of 3-pointers to finish with 14 points. Her second three was her 75th of the season, breaking the single-season mark of 74 set by Brittany Morris just last season.
Jen Dumiak scored the first seven points of the game for American as the Eagles took advantage of a sluggish Seton Hall start to take a 7-0 lead fewer than four minutes into the action.
Redshirt-freshman Sidney Cook (Parkton, N.C.) snapped the Pirates out of their offensive slump when she knocked down a turnaround jump shot just before the first media timeout, and that bucket sparked a huge SHU rally. Once the Pirates started making buckets they ratcheted up the defensive pressure, forcing turnovers which led to easy points on the other end.
The game was tied at 7-7 as Richardson-Smith connected from deep at 14:50, and the Pirates took their first lead of the game on an Ali field goal in the paint. Just a moment later freshman Tara Inman (Holmdel, N.J.) poked the ball away from Michelle Holmes near midcourt, and another Richardson-Smith 3-pointer capped a 12-0 Seton Hall run. That transition offense off turnovers led to eight of the Hall's first 12 points of the game.
American rallied, briefly retaking a 13-12 lead as Dumiak buried her second 3-pointer of the half, but that advantage would not even hold for one possession. On the other end Richardson-Smith made her way through the lane to give the lead back to Seton Hall. That basket was the first of nine unanswered points for the Pirates as they stretched the lead to 21-13 following another Ali baseline jumper at the nine minute mark.
A lengthy SHU field goal drought allowed the Eagles to climb back into the game, but they never came all the way back to retake the lead. Alexis Dobbs converted from deep to cut the Pirate lead down to 24-23, and again it was Ali coming up with the response for the Hall.
Ali already had her double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds at the break, and Richardson-Smith was also in double figures with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting. Dobbs really started to heat up from downtown in the second half, keeping American in the game with four triples over the final 20 minutes. The Eagles were within two, 37-36, following a Dobbs jumper with 12 minutes to play.
That was where Simmons completely took over, scoring 11 of her 14 points over a span of just 3:21. She scored eight-straight for the Hall, capping off a big run with a layup at 8:30 to lift the Pirates to their largest lead of the game, 53-43.
American hung around, cutting the lead back down to two with two minutes left as Dumiak hit from range once again. Seton Hall shot 3-for-4 from the line down the stretch to maintain its lead, but the Eagles did have a look to tie things up on the final possession. Coming out of a timeout Dobbs fired a deep three from out on the right wing, but it banked off the backboard and the Pirates held on for the 3-point win.
Dobbs led all scorers with 24 points on 6-for-11 shooting from downtown. Dumiak chipped in 18 for American, hitting the Eagles' other three 3-pointers.
Ali's 20 rebounds were a career high and the most for a Seton Hall player since Tajay Ashmeade had 21 against William & Mary on Dec. 21, 2011. Cook came off the bench to finish with eight points and six rebounds in 22 minutes.
