The 90’s were back in Carnesecca Arena and so was the St. John’s women’s basketball team Friday night. The Red Storm cruised to victory over Seton Hall (15-11, 7-8 Big East) to put them at 9-7 in Big East Conference play with the season coming to a close.
The Red Storm got out to an eight point lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back. With strong contributions from sophomore Alisha Kebbe, who had 14 points at the half, the Red Storm were rolling with a 40-23 lead.
The second half was more of the same as St. John’s extended their lead to 30 at one point. With Kebbe, who went 7-8 from the field and scored a career-high 20 points, along with a near double-double by senior Maya Singleton, the Red Storm were tough to stop as they defeated Seton Hall 75-56 in front of a good home crowd.
After the game Head Coach Joe Tartamella acknowledged his team’s performance.
“Our whole team was energized,” he said postgame. “And it was a great team win for us.”
When Kebbe was asked about finally breaking her career high in scoring, she talked about how she worked hard to get to where she is today.
“It feels great,” she said. “I have been working hard all summer, all season, and it feels great to finally get [20 points].”
The Red Storm are on a six-game winning streak at home and hope to their home success will carry over with both DePaul (12-3 Big East) and Marquette (12-3 Big East), coming to Carnesecca next week to close out the regular season.
When Tartamella was asked about how much the home crowd has factored into this home winning streak, he took note of how his team feeds off the energy, especially during Friday’s 90’s Night promotion.
“We get engaged from the noise from the crowd and people being there to support you,” he said. “We feed off that.”
With two teams atop of the Big East standings coming to Queens next week, the Red Storm are faced with a challenge to end their season on a high note. With the Big East Tournament and the chance of a sixth consecutive playoff berth on the horizon, the St. John’s certainly looks to be headed in the right direction.
