Seton Hall women move past Providence 88-79

Mar 8, 2014, 07:14 pm

CHICAGO -- Ka-Deidre Simmons had 24 points to lead seventh-seeded Seton Hall women past No. 10 seed Providence 88-79 in the opening round of the Big East tournament on Saturday.

Bra'Shey Ali and Alexis Brown both chipped in with double-doubles to help the Pirates (18-12) advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday where they will face No. 2 seed St. John's (20-9).

Ali had 11 points and 11 rebounds while Brown had 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Tabatha Richardson-Smith added 15 points and five steals.

The Pirates held a 72-55 lead with 5:32 left, but Providence (7-23) went on a 14-5 run to close to 77-71 on Tori Rule's 3-pointer with 2:05 to play. From there, Seton Hall made 11 of 13 free throws to hang on for the win.

Rule was 5 of 9 from 3-point range with 27 points for the Friars and Evi Iiskola added 21.