St. John's University Athletics
RED STORM EDGE HAWKS, 63-62
11/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The win was the second straight for the Red Storm, who improve to 3-2 on the season. St. Joe's falls to 1-3.
There were 13 lead changes and 12 ties in this one which came down to the wire. Clinging to a 58-57 lead with 2:15 to play, Thompson drove the lane and layed one in, initially giving the Red Storm a three-point edge. But, the shot was waived off and an offensive foul was called on Thompson. On the next possession, Red Storm senior Tynisha Myles (Paterson, N.J.) fouled one of the hottest Hawk shooters, Susan Moran, who had the opportunity to give the Hawks the lead on a one-and-one opportunity. She hit one of two free throws, to make it 58-58 with just over a minute left.
The Red Storm then worked the ball down the court and got the ball inside to Myles, who also had her shot waived off because of an offensive foul. That would be Myles' fifth foul of the game, so she sat down and the Hawks would regain possession.
St. Joe's Angela Zampella pushed the ball past midcourt and drove down the right side of the lane untouched for an easy lay-in, giving the Hawks a two-point edge (60-58) with :38 seconds to go. St. Joe's immediately called a timeout.
Following the :30 break, the Red Storm inbounded the ball to Thompson, who hit a clutch three-pointer, her fifth of the game, to put the Red Storm back on top by one (61-60). Thompson fouled Zampella on the ensuing possession, and the Hawk guard went to the line for the first time all night, looking to push the lead back in St. Joe's favor. Zampella hit both free throws, making it 62-61 with :19 remaining.
St. John's chose not to call a timeout in this situation. Instead, they got the ball in the hands of their senior leader, Thompson. She worked the ball down the court, broke the press, put up a running jumper and watched the ball sit motionless on the rim for about two seconds, until it finally fell in, giving the Red Storm a 63-62 advantage.
The Hawks then burned their final timeout. When play resumed, they got the ball to Zampella, whose last second shot attempt hit the front of the rim, and the Red Storm escaped with the victory.
Thompson finished with a season-high 27 points to lead all scorers on 10-of-17 shooting. Junior Rasheedah Brown (Newark, N.J.) added 15 points with four assists and three steals. Myles chipped in with 10 points and a team-high six rebounds. The Red Storm committed only nine turnovers all night and shot 65.0 percent from the floor in the second half. Despite getting outrebounded 33-20, the Red Storm were able to pick off eight steals and hit eight three-pointers.
The Red Storm return to action on Thursday, December 7 when they host nationally-ranked Old Dominion in Alumni Hall at 7:30 in a non-conference game.
