NEW YORK (Jan. 20, 2015) --- Ka-Deidre Simmons of Seton Hall for the second consecutive week and Bria Smith of NJCU have been named Women’s Division I and Divisions II-III Players of the Week, respectively, by the Met Basketball Writers Assn. The designations, for games played Jan. 12-18, are unique in that they encompass players from 73 Met area schools across Divisions I, II and III.

A 5-8 graduate student guard from Newark, NJ, Simmons --- who also was named Big East player of the week for the second week in a row --- helped conference-leading Seton Hall (17-2, 6-1) achieve a 2-0 week by averaging 22.5 points per game, 9.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds. She shot 56.5% from the field (13-of-23) in the two games played.

In an 88-58 triumph over Marquette, Simmons scored 17 points on 7-of-12 field goal shooting to blend with eight assists and seven rebounds. She tied a career high with 28 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 15-of-18 accuracy at the foul line, along with dishing out 11 assists, to boost the Pirates to a 107-87 victory over DePaul.

Simmons ranks fifth in the Big East in scoring, averaging 17.4 ppg, and leads the league with 5.7 assists per game. She ranks sixth all-time at Seton Hall with 1,469 points and second with 477 assists.

A 5-9 sophomore forward from Bayonne, NJ, Smith produced a trio of double-doubles as NJCU (7-9) fought its way to a 1-2 week against stern Division III competition. In the three games the elite rebounder averaged 15.7 boards to complement 14.3 points, 2.0 steals, 2.0 assists and 1.3 blocks. She now has 11 double-doubles this season, surpassing her freshman performance when she was named NJAC and Atlantic Region rookie of the year.  

In a 63-56 come-from-behind win over St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn, Smith seized 22 rebounds and posted 15 points. Smith became the sixth known player in school history to register multiple career 20-rebound efforts and was one shy of her season and career-best 23 achieved last month as she claimed 12 of her 22 boards in the second half, finishing with eight offensive and 14 defensive caroms. She shot 5-of-10 from the field and for the first time as a collegian played a full 40 minutes while collecting three blocks and three steals.

Then, in a 65-63 loss at Rutgers-Camden, Smith had 17 points and 14 rebounds (10 defensive), scoring 11 in the first half when NJCU led. Finally, in a 69-49 setback to highly ranked Montclair State, she registered 11 points and 11 rebounds with three assists and two steals.

Players receiving MBWA Women’s Division I Honorable Mention for the week: Aliyyah Handford, St. John’s; Tori Jarosz, Marist; Kelsey Minato, Army.

Players receiving MBWA Women’s Divisions II-III Honorable Mention for the week: Kaitlyn Astel, Stevens; Christina Barone, Mount St. Vincent; Kaitlyn Read, NYU; Courtney Stephens, Drew.

Previous MBWA 2014-15 Women’s Players of the Week: Dec. 9, Betnijah Laney, Rutgers; Dec. 16, Kelsey Minato, Army; Dec. 23, Aliyyah Handford, St. John’s, and Alyson Caiazzo, Manhattanville (co-winners); Jan. 12, Ka-Deidre Simmons, Seton Hall, Div. I . . . Madison Rowland, Queens, Divs. II-III.

--- www.metbasketballwriters.org ---