A visibly upset Kia Wright and coach Kim Barnes Arico entered the press room after the No. 23 St. John’s women’s basketball team’s 74-59 loss to Marquette on Feb. 8.
“I didn’t think we came out ready to play,” said Barnes Arico.
Wright agreed, saying, “This is the Big East. If you don’t come out ready to play in the first half, games can slip away from you.”
The junior had a good game, scoring 26 points, but she had very little help as the other four starters combined for only another 25 points.
No one else reached double digits.
Angela Clark looked slowed by her ankle injury suffered the previous game against South Florida.
She scored only eight points, her third-lowest mark for the entire season.
“She played hard considering her injury,” said Barnes Arico, noting her 10 rebounds. “She’s playing through it.”
Marquette, meanwhile, had five girls score at least 10 points. They were led by freshman guard, Krystal Ellis who scored a team-high 21 points.
“We weren’t able to stop them any time we wanted to stop them,” said Barnes Arico.
Added Wright: “We didn’t do what we did in practice. We’ve just got to be prepared and more focused every game.”
Despite the loss, St. John’s is still 18-5 and holds third place in the Big East conference.
“We want to move forward and get better,” said Danielle Chambers. “From tonight’s game, you can see that we have a lot more work to do.”
Added Barnes Arico: “Well, it’s just one game – same thing we say after a win.
“We’ve just got to start preparing for our next game and that’s the way we always take things.”
SHORTS
Following a 74-59 loss to Marquette on Feb. 8th, the St. John’s women’s basketball team has been dropped out of AP’s top 25.
The women were in the top 25 for two weeks, spending one week as No. 25 and the second week as No. 23. However, the team has been only 1-3 since being ranked.
In this week’s poll, the women received only 36 points in the voting, 82 short of the new No. 25 team, Utah.
“It’s a goal as a team,” Danielle Chambers said. “But when we come out to play, we just play.”
She added: “We just work on getting better and the success comes.”
