The St. John’s women’sbasketball team had their bestseason in 27 years this year,winning 25 games andadvancing to the second roundof the NCAA tournament.
They are getting somerecognition for thatsuccess, courtesy of StateFarm Insurance.
Sophomore forward Da’Shena Stevens was one of 40fi nalists for the 2010 State FarmCoaches All America Team andsenior guard Kelly McManmonwas selected to compete in theState Farm 3-Point Shootout.Stevens, last season’s BigEast Freshman of the Year, wasone of six Big East players to benominated to the All Americateam. She was also named fi rstteam All Big East this seasonfor the fi rst time in her career.
During the season, she wasnamed to the Big East’s weeklyhonor roll fi ve times.
Stevens led the Red Stormin scoring and reboundingthis season and had sixdouble-doubles. Her 14.3points per game were goodfor eighth in the Big Eastwhile her 7.6 rebounds per gamewere ninth. In the Red Storm’stwo NCAA tournament games,she averaged 16.5 points andeight rebounds per game.McManmon, a 3-pointspecialist, averaged 7.6 pointsper game. She was fourth in theconference with 2.2 3-pointersper game and hit 44.5 percent ofher attempts, good for ninth inthe nation.
Of the 244 points shescored this year, 217 camefrom behind the arc. She hit46 of her 69 threes during BigEast play and shot 54 percentfrom behind the arc.McManmon broke theSt. John’s women’s all timethree-point record on Jan.10 against Seton Hall andfi nished her career with 219made attempts.
Now, she will get anopportunity to display herthree-point prowess on a nationalstage. The shootoutwill be held in Indianapolisas a part of the week-longcelebration of the men’sFinal Four. It will air onESPN on Thursday at 9 p.m.”It is an honor to be selectedto compete against some ofthe top players in the nation inthis competition,” McManmonsaid. “I am really excited to be apart of this, and I am lookingforward to showcasing myskills while representing St.John’s University.”
Stevens and McManmonwere integral parts ofa St. John’s team that exceededexpectations in theBig East. Picked to fi nish 12thin the preseason coaches’ poll.The Johnnies compiled a 12-4conference record and earneda double bye in the conferencetournament as one of thetop four teams.
After losing in thequarterfi nal round of the BigEast tournament to No. 4Notre Dame on March 7, theRed Storm received an at-largebid to the NCAA tournament.
Playing as the sixth seed, theydefeated No. 11 Princetonbefore losing in overtime toNo. 3 Florida State.