FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2011 - SOUTH ORANGE, N.J.
WALSH GYMNASIUM - 7:00 PM
SETON HALL (0-0)
vs.
FLORIDA GULF COAST (0-0)
VIDEO STREAM: SHUPIRATES.COM • AUDIO: 89.5 FM WSOU
PIRATES' STATUS
The Pirates begin year two of the Anne Donovan era against the same Eagles club they faced to begin the 2010-11 campaign. SHU welcomes back leading scorer Jasmine Crew, who averaged 11.6 points as a junior. Senior Tajay Ashmeade also returns for her senior year and will look to build on her averages of 3.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The Pirates finished last year with an 8-21 record.
EAGLES' STATUS
The Eagles are coming off a 28-4 season where they made it to the second round of the WNIT. FGCU was rated No. 8 in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll and were picked to win the Atlantic Sun by the conference coaches. The Eagles return six of their top-seven scorers highlighted by Sarah Hansen and Kelsey Jacobsen.
SEASON OPENERS
Seton Hall is 28-10 all-time in season openers. The PIrates are 26-7 since 1978 in home openers in Walsh Gymnasium and 19-4 when they begin the season at home. SHU was edged by Florida Gulf Coast, 64-57, in last season's debut and topped Temple, 72-59, in its first home contest.
SETON HALL VS. THE ATLANTIC SUN
The Pirates have played just two games in their history against a team currently in the Atlantic Sun Conference. SHU fell to Florida Gulf Coast last year, and in 2004 the Pirates knocked off Campbell, 59-41, in the opening round of the USC Tournament in Columbia, S.C.
CREW RETURNS
SHU's leading scorer, Jasmine Crew, returns after averaging 11.6 points per game and shooting 77-percent from the charity stripe.
SIMMONS OUT FOR YEAR
Sophomore guard Ka-Deidre Simmons will miss the entire 2011-12 season due to a knee injury. Simmons was a member of the All-BIG EAST Freshman team a year ago.
ASHMEADE & MASEKO PLAY INTERNATIONALLY
Senior Tajay Ashmeade and junior Alex Maseko each represented their countries in international competitions over the summer and early fall. Ashmeade played for Jamaica in the FIBA Americas Championship in September. Maseko played for Zimbabwe in the All-Africa Games in August.
NEW FACES
The Pirates have added three players to the squad. Guard Alexis Brown and center Chizoba Ekedigwe were the first two signees by head coach Anne Donovan. Meanwhile, junior Breanna Jones will join the team after spending a year at Hampton University in 2009-10.
SHELBY ADDED TO STAFF
Bett Shelby is the only new member of Anne Donovan's coaching staff, replacing Jenny Palmateer, who earned the head coaching job at Monmouth last spring. Shelby spent the 2010-11 season at Southern Illinois. She joins incumbent assistants, Ty Grace and Catherine Proto, along with Director of Operarations David Kim and Coordinator of Operations Nanna Rivers.
PIRATES INK FOUR TO NLI'S
Seton Hall announced that Sidney Cook, Shannise Heady, Jasmine McCall, and Tabatha Richardson-Smith will join the Pirates next season. Cook, a 6'4" forward is a consensus top-100 recruit from Parkton, N.C. Heady is an athletic 5'11" wing, hailing from Hazel Crest, Ill. A 5'9" guard, McCall was an all-conference player at Manalapan High in South Jersey. Richardson-Smith, a versatile 6'0" wing, will come to South Orange via Bay City, Texas.
PIRATE SPORTS NETWORK
13 of Seton Hall home women's basketball game will be streamed live on SHUPirates.com. Join play-by-play announcer Jon Schaeffer as he calls all the exciting action of Pirates' basketball.
BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2012 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship will once again be held at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., on March 4-8. For the fourth-straight year, all 16 teams will be invited.
