Nice article about The Pirates on front page of sports in today's Record if somebody can link it. Will make you feel proud.
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College basketball: Seton Hall women to face Rutgers in NCAA tourney
By JEFF ROBERTS
STAFF WRITER |
The Record
SOUTH ORANGE - The group hug erupted spontaneously, a bobbing, heaving mob of young women wrapped in each other's chaotic embrace.
The Seton Hall women's basketball team held each other tight in Walsh Gym and would not let go, barely hearing the 300 screaming family, friends and fans washing over them as their school was announced during the NCAA tournament selection show on ESPN.
Forgive them for their excitement. The Pirates have waited two long decades for an invitation to the tournament. And they have waited one very long, very bitter year for a rematch with in-state rival, Rutgers.
Well, on Monday night, both wishes were granted.
Ninth-seeded Seton Hall (28-5) will face eighth-seeded Rutgers - which beat the Pirates in double overtime in last season's NIT Sweet 16 en route to the title then declined to schedule them - Saturday in the opening round in Storrs, Conn. The winner likely will face defending national champion and Albany Region top seed Connecticut.
"It's payback time for Rutgers! Right?" Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella said over the PA to another wave of applause. "It's payback time."
For guard Ka-Deidre Simmons, the selection committee could not have bestowed them with a greater gift - or showed a keener sense of humor and drama.
"There couldn't been a better [pairing]," she said. "When you think of the state of New Jersey, I want people to think of Seton Hall and not Rutgers anymore. It's our time."
She added: "Our team's still scarred from last year."
"It's still kind of unreal because nobody thought we'd make it this far," said forward Tabatha Richardson-Smith, holding her 1-year-old son, Taytan Martin-Smith.
Seton Hall and Rutgers have met every season since 1993. But last year, the rivals did not face each other until that fateful NIT game after Rutgers left for the Big Ten.
The Scarlet Knights (22-9) lead the all-time series, 33-9.
While her Seton Hall teammates exploded in that group hug, Daisha Simmons remained seated, taking it all in.
She had played one season at Rutgers after an All-State career at Gill St. Bernard's. Then the Jersey City native transferred to Alabama before deciding in May to come home to care for her ailing mother and brother.
But Alabama refused to sign off on her waiver. A public outcry finally resulted in her release.
"Just to have the opponent that I once played for it's kind of crazy," said Daisha Simmons, whose mother, Christena, sat behind her. "It's kind of surreal."
Seton Hall had not earned an invite to the NCAA tournament since 1995. It has earned only three bids in its history.
When Bozzella took over two years ago, the program had won just 27 games in the previous three seasons. This year alone, the Big East regular-season champions have won a school-record 28.
"Being here for five years - a long five years - was rough," said Ka-Deidre Simmons. "The toughest that I've been through. Three coaching changes, a devastating ACL injury and just seeing them lose almost every game."
But things have changed.
A sea of fans in blue and white came to celebrate them, watching the tournament announcement on a movie screen. The college band serenaded them before the unveiling.
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/basketball/pirates-seeking-payback-1.1290402
College basketball: Seton Hall women to face Rutgers in NCAA tourney
By JEFF ROBERTS
STAFF WRITER |
The Record
SOUTH ORANGE - The group hug erupted spontaneously, a bobbing, heaving mob of young women wrapped in each other's chaotic embrace.
The Seton Hall women's basketball team held each other tight in Walsh Gym and would not let go, barely hearing the 300 screaming family, friends and fans washing over them as their school was announced during the NCAA tournament selection show on ESPN.
Forgive them for their excitement. The Pirates have waited two long decades for an invitation to the tournament. And they have waited one very long, very bitter year for a rematch with in-state rival, Rutgers.
Well, on Monday night, both wishes were granted.
Ninth-seeded Seton Hall (28-5) will face eighth-seeded Rutgers - which beat the Pirates in double overtime in last season's NIT Sweet 16 en route to the title then declined to schedule them - Saturday in the opening round in Storrs, Conn. The winner likely will face defending national champion and Albany Region top seed Connecticut.
"It's payback time for Rutgers! Right?" Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella said over the PA to another wave of applause. "It's payback time."
For guard Ka-Deidre Simmons, the selection committee could not have bestowed them with a greater gift - or showed a keener sense of humor and drama.
"There couldn't been a better [pairing]," she said. "When you think of the state of New Jersey, I want people to think of Seton Hall and not Rutgers anymore. It's our time."
She added: "Our team's still scarred from last year."
"It's still kind of unreal because nobody thought we'd make it this far," said forward Tabatha Richardson-Smith, holding her 1-year-old son, Taytan Martin-Smith.
Seton Hall and Rutgers have met every season since 1993. But last year, the rivals did not face each other until that fateful NIT game after Rutgers left for the Big Ten.
The Scarlet Knights (22-9) lead the all-time series, 33-9.
While her Seton Hall teammates exploded in that group hug, Daisha Simmons remained seated, taking it all in.
She had played one season at Rutgers after an All-State career at Gill St. Bernard's. Then the Jersey City native transferred to Alabama before deciding in May to come home to care for her ailing mother and brother.
But Alabama refused to sign off on her waiver. A public outcry finally resulted in her release.
"Just to have the opponent that I once played for it's kind of crazy," said Daisha Simmons, whose mother, Christena, sat behind her. "It's kind of surreal."
Seton Hall had not earned an invite to the NCAA tournament since 1995. It has earned only three bids in its history.
When Bozzella took over two years ago, the program had won just 27 games in the previous three seasons. This year alone, the Big East regular-season champions have won a school-record 28.
"Being here for five years - a long five years - was rough," said Ka-Deidre Simmons. "The toughest that I've been through. Three coaching changes, a devastating ACL injury and just seeing them lose almost every game."
But things have changed.
A sea of fans in blue and white came to celebrate them, watching the tournament announcement on a movie screen. The college band serenaded them before the unveiling.
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/basketball/pirates-seeking-payback-1.1290402
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