St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Hits The Road For Season Opener
11/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's women's basketball team will take to the road this Tuesday, opening the regular season against the Army Black Knights at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. The contest will be the season opener for both the Red Storm and Black Knights.
• The Red Storm and the Black Knights will meet for the 11th time in history, with St. John's holding the edge in the all-time series, 6-4. The Red Storm has won three of the last four meetings with Army, but will be looking to avenge a 57-45 loss to the Black Knights last season. In the contest on Nov. 19, 2006, sophomore point guard Nikki Jo Rotolo was the Red Storm's leading scorer with 11 points, while senior guard Kia Wright had 10 points and a team-high seven assists.
• All-time in season openers, the Red Storm has posted a 21-12 slate in 33 lidlifters, including a 10-4 record at home, a 5-4 record on the road and a 7-3 slate at neutral sites.
• The Red Storm gets the season started after defeating the Traveling All-Stars, 83-74, in a home exhibition game on Thursday, Nov. 8.
• The game at Army will feature live stats on Army's website, www.goarmysports.com.
• Continuing with its three-game road stint, the Red Storm will travel to Burlington, Vt., to participate in the University of Vermont Tournament. St. John's will collide with N.C. State in the first round of the tournament at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17. The Red Storm will play either Brown or Vermont the following afternoon.
• Newcomer Sky Lindsay and junior Monique McLean combined for 25 second-half points, contributing to a furious Red Storm comeback and eventual decisive victory over the Traveling All-Stars, 83-74, in an exhibition contest at Carnesecca Arena. St. John's opened the second-half on a 17-3 run, erasing a 13-point halftime deficit.
• Lindsay led the Red Storm with 22 points to go along with three assists and two steals in 31 minutes. McLean had 21 points and a game-high 13 boards for a double-double, while senior swingman Tiina Sten contributed 13 points and five boards.
• The All-Stars, with a roster of 10 experienced former collegiate players, tallied 46 points on 53.1 percent shooting in the first period. In the second, the Red Storm cranked up the defense, limiting the All-Stars to 28 points on 20.6 field goal percentage.
• The Red Storm offense kicked it in gear in the second firing off a 48.8 second half field goal percentage after shooting 38.9 percent from the field in the first period.
• The Army Black Knights are coming off their first season with head coach Dave Magarity. The 2006-07 year ended abruptly in the first round of the Patriot League tournament.
• Last season, the Black Knights posted a 24-6 record, a program record for wins at the Division I level. Army finished second in the Patriot League regular season behind an 11-3 record. They mirrored that record in road contests, setting a new Black Knight record in the road-wins column.
• The Black Knights return four power seniors to their line up this season who have averaged 18 wins a game over their four years at Army. The senior class, Cara Enright, Margaree King, Stefanie Stone and Anna Wilson, are the winningest Division I class Army has had. In their three years on the floor, Army has only lost four Patriot League games on the Black Knights' home Christl Arena floor, authoring a 20-4 record.
• Enright returns to the starting guard position with fellow All-Patriot League player Alex McGuire. In addition, Nalini Hawkins, a highly touted point guard out of Columbia, Md., possesses the skill and drive to move her way onto Magarity's radar, along with King and Wilson. McGuire was the 2006 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and earned second team all-league last season. Enright garnered her second straight first team all-conference nod a year ago and led the team averaging 14.9 points per game. Enright, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark last November, stands as the fifth highest point-scorer in Army's 29-year history and is just three points shy of moving up to number four.
• In the front court, Army boasts seven six-foot tall players in addition to returning starters Stone and junior Megan Evans. Stone and Evans started all but one game last season. Stone was fourth on the team averaging just over seven points a game, while pulling down four rebounds and shooting over 50 percent (88-175) from the floor. She scored in double-figures 11 times, including a five-game stretch in which she scored at least 10 points. Evans totaled 13 boards in four games, including a double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds) against St. John's last season.
Tickets to St. John's women's basketball games can be purchased online or by calling the St. John's Ticket Office at 718-990-6081.
