SOUTH ORANGE, NJ—The Seton Hall women's basketball team won its 10^th game in a row, as the Pirates recorded a 74-62 home victory over visiting NJIT Friday night at Walsh Gymnasium. 

The 10 straight wins for the Pirates matches the longest win streak for the program since the 1994-95 season.  The lone loss of the 2014 season came against No. 17 West Virginia on November 17 (second game of the season) at the Preseason WNIT, 89-87.

The Pirates (11-1) were led by graduate student Daisha Simmons, who scored a game-high 22 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor, 2-of-4 from three-point range and 6-for-8 from the foul line.

Ka-Deidre Simmons, a graduate student from Newark, netted 18 points and six assists while redshirt junior forward Bra'Shey Ali recorded a double-double with 13 points and game-high 14 rebounds for the Pirates.

NJIT (5-8)  was paced by senior point Alyssa Albanese, who put together a strong game with a team-high 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, while sophomore forward Leah Horton recorded 14 points, shooting 6-of-12 from the floor.  Center Nicole Maticka came off the bench and combined for nine points and nine rebounds, while senior guard Martina Matejcikova scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds for NJIT.

Seton Hall took control of the contest in the opening seven minutes with an 18-point advantage, 25-7, led by Ka-Deidre Simmons' 10 points.  NJIT cut the lead down to 13, 25-12, with less than 10 minutes to go in the half after five straight points.

Down 16, 32-16, with 4:34 remaining in the first stanza, NJIT scored six straight points slimming the Pirate lead to 10, 32-22, after a layup by Camerin Spahn.  The Pirates answered on the other end but a jumper in the paint by Maticka with 1:27 left in the first period cut the lead to 10, 34-24.  In the final minute, Seton Hall scored six unanswered points, pushing the Pirate advantage to 16, 40-24.

To start the second half, Daisha Simmons scored the first points but the Highlanders scored five consecutive points, cutting the lead to 13, after a three-pointer by Albanese at the 18:34 mark.  Seton Hall took its largest lead of the game, 48-29, on a layup by Daisha Simmons at the 17:07 mark.

NJIT battled back, closing the gap to within 10 on two occasions, the closest the Highlanders would come.  NJIT's first run was sparked by Matejcikova, who hit one of two from the free throw line at the 13:55 mark. The Highlanders scored the next six points, the final points on a jumper by Horton to make the score 55-45.  Unfortunately for NJIT, each time the Highlanders slimmed the lead to within 10, the Pirates responded on the opposite end.

The Highlanders final push to cut the lead down to single digits came on back-to-back buckets by Albanese just under the nine-minute mark, as she connected on a jumper in the paint and on a fast break layup, for a 59-49 score.  Ka-Deidre Simmons answered with a jumper at the 8:05 mark, pushing the Pirate lead to 12, 61-49.  Simmons jumper sparked a 10-1 run for the Pirates keeping the game out of reach from the Highlanders.

In the final 2:23 of the night, the Highlanders closed out the game on a 7-3 spurt, as Maticka knocked down a three-pointer with one-minute remaining in the game.

NJIT will have a quick turnaround as the Highlanders will visit Lafayette on Sunday at 2pm.  Lafayette, 5-4 on the season, is coming off a heartbreaking loss, 60-58, at Stony Brook, as Leopards Linnel Macklin's last second three-pointer was off the mark.