St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
17-6, 6-6
Pittsburgh
11-11, 3-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh | 20 | 19 | 39 |
| St. John's | 27 | 22 | 49 |
Red Storm Win Defensive Battle Over Pittsburgh, 49-39
2/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2005
Queens, NY - St. John's and Pittsburgh squared off in a defensive battle this afternoon, but the Red Storm took the lead early and hung on for the remainder of the game, topping the Panthers 49-39. With the win, St. John's improves to 17-6 overall, marking the most wins in a season since the 1987-88 season. Pittsburgh falls to 11-11 overall and 3-8 in the conference.
Former NY Liberty Star Kym Hampton spoke to the crowd during halftime of the game, as part of St. John's National Women in Sports Day celebration. The festivities also included a pre-game multi-sport clinic, and the Women in Sports Dinner, hosted by Student Government following the game.
Angela Clark (Copiague, NY), who scored the first eight points for St. John's in the first half, finished the game with her seventh double-double of the season, notching a career-high16 rebounds and 13 points.
The games' 88 points were the fewest combined points in a St. John's game this season and the Panthers' 39 were the least scored against St. John's all season, a credit to the Red Storm's defensive effort. Neither team shot well from the floor, with Pittsburgh hitting 25.5% of their attempts and St. John's following with 23.6% accuracy.
With the Red Storm leading by seven after the half, Tara Walker (Jersey City, NJ) opened scoring in the second frame, three and a half minutes in. St. John's pulled out to its largest lead of the game, a 13-point edge, with 10:53 remaining after two good free throws from senior Kati Kurtosi (Miskolc, Hungary).
A lay-up by Mercedes Walker helped the Panthers cut the lead to seven with 6:30 to go, and Pittsburgh kept the game close, trailing by seven with under two minutes to play. With 1:31 to go, Wright came up with a steal for St. John's, was fouled, and connected on two shots from the line, to put the Red Storm up 47-38. Wright was fouled 30 seconds later after grabbing a defensive rebound and once again hit two free throws to seal the win for St. John's. Brown hit one final free throw for Pittsburgh with 21 seconds remaining, making the final score 49-39.
St. John's took an early 17-9 lead with 12:29 remaining in the first half, but the Panthers battled back and pulled within three after a good jumper by Jennifer Brown. Kia Wright's (Copiague, NY) basket with 2:43 remaining in the first, the Red Storm's first basket in over nine minutes, gave St. John's a 21-16 lead. The Panthers once again pulled within three, this time after two free throws from Amy Kunich, but Wright sank a basket and Clark closed out the period with two made free throws to put St. John's ahead 27-20 at the break.
Wright finished with a game-high 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Greeba Barlow (Columbia, MD) added four points, four assists and two blocks, while Walker finished with eight points and five rebounds.
St. John's will return to action on Saturday, February 19 at Villanova.
