St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Fall to Georgia Tech, 61-53
12/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Georgia Tech jumped out to an 11-2 lead over the first six minutes of the game, led by five points from Kasha Terry. St. Johns began to close the gap with about 10 minutes remaining in the half, sparked by a jumper by freshman Dana Petersen (Staten Island, N.Y.). Senior Danielle Rainey (Los Angeles, Calif.) cut the Yellow Jackets lead to just five with her only three of the game. Georgia Tech built the lead back to 13, when junior Shemika Stevens (New York, N.Y.) knocked one down from behind to arc to put the Red Storm right back in the game. After two made free throws by Alex Stewart, the Yellow Jackets were ready to take a 12 point lead in the break, but Rainey hit a jumper at the buzzer to put cut it to 10. Georgia Techs 32 first half rebounds gave them a 36-26 advantage at the break.
The Yellow Jackets came out gunning in the second half, building up an 18-point lead after a three by Stewart. Junior Kati Kurtosi (Miskolc, Hungary) and junior Reka Szavuly (Miskolc, Hungary) scored the Red Storms next 10 points, five apiece, to cut the lead to 44-38. Following a steal by junior Crystal Andrews (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Rainey connected on a jumper to pull St. Johns within six. With 16 seconds left in the game senior Creasie Fowler (Milwaukee, Wis.) knocked down the Red Storms final shot, making the score 59-53. Stewart hit two of her 10 free throws to end the game, 61-53.
The Red Storm shot 41.1 percent from the field, to Georgia Techs 31.7, but connected on just two of five from the line (40.0 FT%). The Yellow Jackets hit 65.5 percent from the charity stripe and grabbed 57 rebounds, including 28 offensive, to seal the win. The Red Storm committed a season-low 11 turnovers and dished out 14 assists.
Rainey led the Red Storm with 13 points and chipped in six boards. Stevens, Fowler and sophomore Patrycja Gulak (Olsztyn, Poland) each had seven points. Stevens also dished out a game-high five assists and grabbed three rebounds.
Sonja Mallory notched a double-double for the Yellow Jackets with 12 points, six from the line, and 11 rebounds. Stewart led all scorers with 17 points, and had six boards and four assists.
The Red Storm will face East Carolina or Florida Atlantic at 1pm tomorrow in the consolation game of the Atlanta NW Marriott Invitational.
