St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Women's Basketball Recognized In AP Poll
12/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. - Off to one of its best starts in history with an 11-1 record, the St. John's women's basketball team has been recognized by the Associated Press and is receiving a vote in the Top 25 Poll released Monday afternoon.
The Red Storm has won four-straight games and is coming off winning the St. John's-Chartwells Holiday Classic Championship with a perfect 2-0 record, including defeating Boston College, 72-63, in the championship game on Dec. 21.
Overall, St. John's average margin of victory is 14.1 points per game and the team is shooting 43.8 percent from the field, including a 38.2 mark from 3-point range.
Three players are averaging double figures in scoring for the Red Storm. Senior Monique McLean is leading the way with 17.3 points per game and is third in rebounding, averaging 6.2 boards per game. Fellow classmate Kelly McManmon is averaging 11.6 points, including shooting 44.6 from the field and a team-best 45.1 from 3-point range. Rookie Da'Shena Stevens is making a name for herself early on as the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.5 per game, and she is STJ's third-leading scorer with 11.1 points per game.
McLean and Stevens recently earned accolades for their efforts in the Red Storm's win over Howard on Dec. 16 and its perfect mark in the holiday tournament. McLean was named the PrestoSports/Met Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Player of the Week, in addition to earning BIG EAST Honor Roll accolades, on Dec. 22. She led STJ with 21.7 points per game and shot 53.8 percent from the field on a 21-of-39 effort. Stevens was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Dec. 22. The freshman came close to posting a double-double, averaging 11.0 points and 9.3 rebounds. She was the team's third-leading scorer, but dominated on the boards to lead the way for the Red Storm.
St. John's will wrap up non-conference regular-season action on Tuesday when it travels to face Boston University at 2 p.m. The Red Storm will return home to open BIG EAST play when it welcomes Providence to Madison Square Garden on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. tip-off.
