St. John's University Athletics
Barnes Arico, Stevens And Smith Earn MBWA Honors
4/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
QUEENS. N.Y. - After guiding the St. John's women's basketball team to one of its most successful seasons to date, head coach Kim Barnes Arico was honored with the Maggie Dixon Award as the All-Met Division I Coach of the Year, while sophomore standout Da'Shena Stevens was named the Met Basketball Writers Player of the Year and freshman Shenneika Smith earned All-Met second team honors.
The trio will be honored at the annual All-Met Haggerty Awards Dinner held at the Westchester Marriott on Wednesday, April 21.
In her eighth year with the Red Storm, Barnes Arico led the team to one of its best seasons in history en route to her second Maggie Dixon Award. She guided the team to a 25-7 record, leading St. John's to its most wins since 28 in 1982-83. The Red Storm posted a 12-4 slate in BIG EAST action, finishing tied for fourth in the league while tying the program mark in BIG EAST wins. STJ added another milestone to the list as it finished the year ranked in both Top 25 Polls for the first time in program history, as it was listed No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll and No. 15 in the final AP Poll.
Barnes Arico led St. John's to its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and the team advanced to the second round with a 65-47 win over Princeton. Her squad came close to making its first appearance in the Sweet 16, dropping a 66-65 overtime decision to then-No. 11 FSU in second-round action. Barnes Arico directed STJ to its biggest win in program history, as the team defeated then-No. 4/3 Notre Dame on Feb. 16, 76-71. It was the third win all-time for STJ over the Irish, with all three coming under Barnes Arico.
Stevens led the Red Storm in scoring and rebounding, nearly averaging a double-double with 14.3 points and 7.6 rebounds. Finishing the year ranked seventh in scoring and ninth in rebounding among all players in the BIG EAST, Stevens posted a team-high 25 double-digit scoring games, six 20-point performances and six double-doubles. For her efforts, she was a first team All-BIG EAST selection, a Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Region I All-American and an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American.
A native of Stamford, Conn., Stevens had two of her best games of the year against top-ranked teams. She scored a team-high 25 points and grabbed 11 boards against then-No. 4/4 North Carolina on Dec. 6. In the 76-71 upset win over then-No. 4/3 Notre Dame on Feb. 16, Stevens recorded a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards.
Smith, a Full Court Press Second Team Freshman All-American and a unanimous BIG EAST freshman team selection, finished the season second in scoring with 12.9 points per game, tied for third in rebounding with 5.3 boards per contest and ranked second with 25 blocks. A three-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week selection, Smith broke the rookie scoring record and set the new mark with 412 points. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native posted 23 double-digit scoring games, including four 20-plus point performances, and led the team in BIG EAST scoring with 12.9 points per game.
The guard had one of the biggest games of her season in STJ's upset win over then-No. 4/3 Notre Dame on Feb. 16, posting her first-career double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Smith also led the Red Storm to a crucial 68-65 conference win on the road over Syracuse, scoring a career-high 28 points and going 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
