When the St. John’s women’s basketball team went on their third five-game winning streak of the year with impressive wins over Big East opponents last week, talks a trip to the NCAA Tournament started
to happen.
Coach Kim Barnes Arico never was one to look down the road because of her mentality. “We need to take it one game at a time,” she said.
In the next match up, on the road against Georgetown, the Red Storm saw their five game winning streak put to an end.
The loss gave the Red Storm a reality check that they really do need to take it one game at a time or they can watch their NCAA hopes slowly go away.
The Red Storm rebounded from the loss against the Hoyas and took it out on the road against the Seton Hall Pirates with a impressive 66-45 victory on Super
Bowl Sunday.
“It was a complete team effort for us today,” said Barnes Arico.
With the win, the Red Storm improves to 19-4, 7-3 in Big East play, while Seton Hall falls to 9-14, 1-9 in Big East play.
“We had a slow start to the first half and we were able to get it together in the second half,” said Barnes Arico. “We were much better at our offensive production in the second half.”
In the first half, Seton Hall jumped out to a 14-6 lead to start the game. Nadirah McKenith responded by hitting two free throws, which sparked a 12-4 Red Storm run. The Red Storm led at
halftime 26-25.
In the second half, the Red Storm outscored the Pirates, shooting 48.4
percent from the field and holding Seton Hall to a 32.1 percent shooting percentage. Five players reached double digits in
scoring for the Red Storm.
Senior Kelly McManmon and junior Centhya “Coco” Hart each came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 11 points apiece.
McManmon shot 4-of-7 from the field while shooting 3-of-5 behind the arc. Hart shot 5-of-8 from the field and added
six rebounds.
Sophomore Da’Shena Stevens, Rookies Shenneika Smith and McKenith each scored 10 points a piece. Stevens
also added five rebounds, two assists
and one steal.
McKenith had another outstanding game, setting a career high with eight rebounds.
“Nadirah had an excellent game for us. She really helped us in the second half,” said Barnes Arico.
Senior Joy McCorvey had another strong game for the Red Storm, with eight points and seven rebounds.
As a team, the Red Storm shot 41.9 percent from the field, 50 percent from behind the arc and 78.6 percent from the free throw line. They only had six turnovers during the game and they forced 21 turnovers on the Pirates.
The Red Storm square off next in a home match up against Louisville at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday.