St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
17-14
Iona
20-14
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iona | 25 | 34 | 59 |
| STJ | 27 | 38 | 65 |
St. John's Defeats Iona; Advances To WNIT Third Round
3/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 24, 2008
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
QUEENS, N.Y. - Monique McLean scored 20 points and Kia Wright added 16 to lead the St. John's women's basketball team to a 65-59 victory over Iona College in the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on Monday night at Carnesecca Arena.
The Red Storm (17-14), playing in its second all-time WNIT, advances to the third round for the first time in history and will host former league rival Boston College (21-11) at Carnesecca Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m.
"I thought Iona played really tough," said St. John's head coach Kim Barnes Arico. "There were a couple of times we could have put them away but we weren't able to do that because they played hard. I think it was a good game for us considering we haven't played in such a long period of time, especially to get the kinks out. I was proud of our effort, especially the way we stuck together and made our free throws in the end."
McLean's 20-point performance marked her eighth 20-point scoring contest of the season and marked the 18th time she led the team in scoring. After only scoring two points in the opening stanza, Wright turned things on in the second half and scored 14. With her 16-point performance, Wright surpassed the 1,500 point plateau for her career. Both McLean and Wright paced the way for the squad with seven boards apiece.
St. John's jumped out to an early 15-4 lead after a pair of McLean 3-pointers. The Gaels (20-14), however, closed to within 17-14 before eventually tying the score at 21-21. After both teams traded baskets, the Red Storm went ahead 27-25 thanks to a Recee Mitchell jumper at the 2:20 mark.
Out of the break, St. John's slowly began to distance itself from Iona and eventually went up by nine, 41-32, at 13:05. The Gaels chipped into the advantage and cut the deficit down to five, at 43-38 with 11:29 to play in the second half, but McLean and Kelly McManmon nailed consecutive 3-pointers to put STJ ahead by 11.
After St. John's took its largest lead of 13 points, the Gaels mounted a comeback and came within four points of the lead on two occasions. The Red Storm was perfect from the free-throw line down the stretch, going 6-of-6, in the final minute of play to seal the victory.
