NCAA Tournament: Red Storm Gets Ready To Face FSU

3/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

March 21, 2010

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The St. John's women's basketball team defeated Princeton, 65-47, in first round action of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday to advance to play host FSU on Monday at 7:16 p.m. for a trip to the Sweet 16.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Jon Sciambi will be calling the action and Abby Waner will provide the color commentary. The game will also be available on ESPN360.com.

History Lesson
Florida State won the only meeting with the Red Storm, a 64-56 victory on Dec. 29, 1999, at a neutral site.

Scouting The Seminoles
FSU earned the No. 3 seed in the Dayton Region and opened tournament action with a 75-61 win over Louisiana Tech. The Seminoles improved their record to 27-5 on the season and 7-9 all-time in NCAA Tournament action. Four players reached double-figures in scoring, led by Jacinta Monroe's and Courtney Ward's 16-point performances.

Stellar Defense
The Red Storm defense was stellar in the team's NCAA Tournament game against Princeton. St. John's held the Tigers to their lowest field goal percentage of the season (28.2) and their lowest 3-point field goal percentage of the year (10.0). Princeton entered the contest averaging 44.5 percent from the field and 36.1 from long distance. Additionally, STJ allowed only one Princeton player to reach double figures in scoring after four players were scoring 10 or more points on average. St. John's held Princeton without a field goal for 9:20 in the first half, from the 12:12 mark until 2:56, and finished the game strong, holding the Tigers to 1-of-16 shooting over the final 12:24 of the game. STJ's strong defensive efforts on the day snapped the Tigers 21-game winning streak.

Did You Know...
The Red Storm is 5-0 this season when five or more players score in double figures, and is 13-1 when four or more players score in double digits.

25 Wins
The 25 victories this season are a season best for Kim Barnes Arico at the helm of the Red Storm. Including this season, the Red Storm has reached 25 wins or more five times in history. The most wins in a season were 28 in 1982-83.

Under KBA...
The Red Storm has posted a perfect 2-0 record in NCAA Tournament first round action.

Smith Nearing Rookie Record
With 402 points this season, Shenneika Smith is only five away from breaking the STJ rookie scoring record set last year by fellow teammate Da'Shena Stevens with 406 points.

NCAA First Round Postgame Notes
Smith set a new career high with 12 rebounds. The rebounds, coupled with her 13 points, gave her the third double-double of her career. The freshman had 11 points in the first half to get things going for the team. She concluded the game 6-of-9 from the field.

Centhya Hart recorded her second double-double of the year with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The junior grabbed six rebounds in the opening frame and scored six points in the second half.

Da'Shena Stevens finished the game with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Her nine field goals made tied the Donald L. Tucker Center record. The sophomore led the team in scoring for the 14th time this season.

Sky Lindsay tied a personal best with three steals against Princeton.

Neutral Site Success
With the win over Princeton, the Red Storm improved its record to 3-1 at neutral sites. Stevens and Smith are nearly averaging double-doubles in neutral contests. Stevens leads the team with 17.5 points, while Smith is a close second with 17.0. Both are tied for the team high with a 7.0 rebounding average.

The Little Things
In its win over Princeton, the Red Storm came up big in three categories. The team dominated in the paint, scoring 40 of its 65 points. STJ capitalized on Princeton turnovers, scoring 14 points. The Red Storm took advantage of second chance attempts and scored 22 points, while only allowing Princeton six second-chance points.

Multi-Steal Game
Four of the five St. John's starters in the game with Princeton recorded multi-steal games. Smith and Lindsay tied for the game-high with three each, while Joy McCorvey and Nadirah McKenith posted two apiece.

Climbing Up The Charts
Two St. John's players are climbing up the charts in Red Storm history. McKenith has 155 assists this season to rank 10th in a season at STJ. She is only five from tying Debbie Brajevich for ninth. The freshman is close to entering the top 10 in season steals. With 71 swipes, she is two from tying Sabrina Johnson for 10th. Joy McCorvey entered the top 10 in career blocks and is currently in ninth place with 71. She is only seven from tying Angela Clark for eighth.

800-Point Club
Lindsay is close to hitting the 800-point plateau. With 794 career points, she is only six away from becoming the third STJ player this season to reach the milestone (Kelly McManmon and Da'Shena Stevens).

Double-Digit Scoring Games
Stevens has scored 10 or more points in 24 of 31 games this season for the Red Storm, while Smith has posted 23 double-digit scoring efforts.

All-Time In NCAA Tournament Action
This year's appearance in the NCAA Tournament marks the fifth all-time for the Red Storm and the second for Barnes Arico at STJ. St. John's has made three appearances in the second round, and has posted a 3-4 mark in NCAA Tournament action all-time.