Kenneth Cook/Staff Photographer
The Seton Hall women’s basketball team improved to 16-2 overall, and 5-1 in conference play on Friday, defeating the Marquette Golden Eagles 88-58.
The Pirates trailed early after a Kenisha Bell rebounded the ball and hit a jumper to record the game’s first basket. The Hall would answer back with a three from graduate student Janee Johnson, who went 3-for-7 from three-point territory, totaling 15 points on the evening. Marquette would answer and trade shots with the Pirates, leading 7-6 nearly five minutes in before the Pirates went on an 8-0 run to put the Pirates up, they would not trail again for the rest of the night.
Exiting the first half, the Pirates led 43-20, thanks in part to Daisha Simmons who had 18 first half points, part of a 24-point game for the graduate student from Jersey City.
Simmons and company continued their offensive onslaught into the second half, leading by 33 less than five minutes into the half after Johnson’s layup put the Hall up 57-24. Marquette would cut into the Pirates lead, but were unable to maintain enough possession to play catch up, turning the ball over 16 times in the game. The Pirates would close out the game 88-58, the fourth time this season the Pirates have topped 80 points, only one point shy of matching a season-high from Nov. 17, 2014 versus West Virginia that saw the Pirates score 89 points.
The Pirates will battle for Big East supremacy on Sunday, taking on the DePaul Blue Demons. The two programs are 5-1 in conference play. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Neal McHale can be reached at neal.mchale@student.shu.edu or on twitter @nealmchale.
