St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Hosts Fourth Annual STJ-Chartwells Holiday Classic
12/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2011
HOLIDAY CLASSIC INFO
GAME 1: St. John's vs. Prairie View A&M
Carnesecca Arena
Saturday, Dec. 17
1 p.m. (ET)
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QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's hosts the fourth annual STJ-Chartwells Holiday Classic on Dec. 17-18 at Carnesecca Arena, welcoming Prairie View A&M, Louisiana Tech and Memphis to Queens, N.Y. The tournament pits St. John's against Prairie View in the first game at 1 p.m. on Saturday, followed by Memphis vs. Louisiana Tech in the 3 p.m. slot. Sunday will start with the noon consolation game, followed by a 2 p.m. championship match up.
On Sunday, a five-member all-tournament team will be selected as well as a tournament Most Valuable Player. Last season, St. John's defeated Southern Mississippi and UC-Santa Barbara en route to the Holiday Classic title. Shenneika Smith was named the tournament's MVP. The Red Storm is 6-0 in the STJ Holiday Classic.
Tip Off Quick Hits
St. John's (5-5) will be looking to rebound off of an 0-2 week at the hands of then-No. 20/21 DePaul and No. 1 Baylor. The Red Storm gave fans at Madison Square Garden quite a show in its last outing, as St. John's led Baylor 36-30 in the second half of play at the sixth-annual Maggie Dixon Classic (Dec. 11). Baylor would eventually rally back for the 73-59 victory.
St. John's is 4-1 at home this season and is riding a 4-0 winning streak at Carnesecca Arena after losing the season-opener to St. Bonaventure (Nov. 12) 64-58.
It is the first meeting between the Red Storm and Prairie View's Lady Panthers. St. John's has played both of the other opponents, but has not seen either team since the mid-1990's.
This weekend's games will be broadcast live via StormTracker All-Access produced by STJ-TV. Tony Luftman and Stephen Florival will on the call for Saturday's games, while Ralph Bednarczyk and Josh Harman will be on Sunday's broadcast.
Senior Da'Shena Stevens was cleared to play this week and will be making her first appearance in the St. John's line up this season. Stevens missed the first 10 games due to an off season injury to her left knee.
Red Storm vs. Lady Panthers
It is the first meeting between the Red Storm and the Lady Panthers.
It is only the second debut match up for St. John's this season. The Red Storm's first was against Iowa in the Junkanoo Jam (Nov. 25). St. John's lost to Iowa, 60-52.
LA Tech vs. Memphis
It is the 11th meeting between Memphis and Louisiana Tech. La Tech leads the overall series 8-2. The last meeting between the two teams was on Dec. 22, 2009, the Lady Techsters defeated the Tigers, 86-76.
Coaching Match Up
10th-year head coach Kim Barnes Arico is 157-129 (.549) at St. John's. She is 251-201 overall as head coach. Prairie View A&M's head coach Toyelle Wilson is 23-18 in her second season with the Lady Panthers.
Saturday's game is the first meeting between these two coaches at their respective schools. Wilson played for nearby Manhattan and graduated in 2003.
Scouting Prairie View A&M
Prairie View is 2-6 so far this season and has played one other BIG EAST school before St. John's. The Lady Panthers lost to Marquette, 71-51 (Nov. 25) at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands over Thanksgiving break.
The Lady Panthers are a consistent NCAA Tournament team and have made the Big Dance in 2007, 2009 and 2011 as the SWAC Tournament Champions. Prairie View also played in the WNIT Postseason tournament in 2008 and 2010. Last year, the Panthers went up against Baylor in the First Round and lost 66-30.
Going into Saturday's game, the Lady Panthers are looking to put together back-to-back wins after defeating Cal State Bakersfield 69-64 in the consolation round of the Cal Classic on Dec. 4.
The Lady Panthers are led by redshirt junior Latia Williams in scoring with 11.3 points per game. She is also the team's leading rebounder with a 7.1 rebound per game average. Rookie Jennette Jackson and junior Kiara Etienne are close behind as both average 11.0 ppg. Prairie View opened its season with a 61-58 win over Rice (Nov. 11).
Against the SWAC
St. John's has never played an opponent from the SWAC during the Kim Barnes Arico Era. In last year's Kansas State Tournament, St. John's could have faced Grambling State but did not.
Scouting The Classic Competition
Memphis (8-1) is undefeated in its last six games, with its last win over UALR on Dec. 10, 81-66. The Tigers only loss is at Illinois (Nov. 15). Memphis lost 62-54.
Brittany Carr leads the Tigers in scoring with 17.6 points per game. Three other players average in double figures with Jasmine Lee (14.2), Nicole Dickinson (13.2) and Ramses Lonlack (10.5). Dickinson leads the team in rebounding with 9.4 boards per game.
St. John's is the first team Memphis will play from the BIG EAST. A game against Ston Hall on Dec. 30 is also on their schedule.
Louisiana Tech (5-6) has already faced a member of the BIG EAST Conference this season as the Lady Techsters lost to Seton Hall, 72-69, on Nov. 24. The Lady Techsters have won their last three games, defeating Houston, Mississippi State and Arkansas State on their way to Queens, N.Y.
The Lady Techsters boast an impressive history with 27 NCAA tournament appearances, 13 final fours, eight national title games and three national championships.
The 2011-12 edition of La Tech is led by senior Jasmine Bendolph who averages 12.3 ppg and has eight double-digit scoring games this year. She is the only player averaging double figures. On the boards, the Lady Techsters are led by Shantale Bramble-Donaldson with 6.8 rebounds per game.
Red Storm In The Classic
St. John's is undefeated in the Holiday Classic at 6-0. Last season, the Red Storm defeated Southern Mississippi, 81-50 (Dec. 18, 2010) and UC-Santa Barbara, 56-47 (Dec. 19, 2010) in the Championship game. Shenneika Smith was named the Eleanor Taffner Tournament MVP with Eugeneia McPherson and then-senior Sky Lindsay named to the All-Tournament team. In 2009-10, St. John's defeated Texas-Arlington, 79-47, and Virginia Tech (75-62) en route to the classic crown. Smith was also a member of the 2009 All-Tourney squad.
St. John's played the last two minutes of the 2010 match up against Southern Mississippi with just four players on the court.
Postgame Notes: Maggie Dixon Classic
St. John's led Baylor 36-30 with 18:27 remaining in the game. No. 7/8 Tennessee is the only other team to hold a lead against the Bears in the second half (Nov. 27). Baylor would eventually rally back to win 73-59 at the sixth-annual Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden.
The Red Storm turned the ball over just eight times during the game. No other team has managed to record single-digit turnovers against Baylor so far this season.
St. John's made a season-high five three-pointers against Baylor shooting 55.6 percent (5-of-9) for the afternoon.
The two teams played a closely-contested game that featured seven ties and six lead changes.
St. John's held Baylor to 73 points for the game which is their second-lowest total this season.
The Bears were held to 72 points in their previous game, a 72-41 victory over Milwaukee.
The Red Storm defense held 2011 consensus fi rst-team All-American Brittney Griner to a season-low 17 points. Griner was averaging 23.4 points per game heading into the contest.
St. John's outscored Baylor in fast break points eight to six.
Junior Eugeneia McPherson scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting. The 23-point effort fell just two shy of her career-high 25 point game against Maryland on Dec. 29, 2010. McPherson's 23 points are the most by a St. John's player in the history of the school's series against Baylor. She supplanted previous leader Monique McLean who scored 16 points on Dec. 6, 2008 against the Bears.
Junior Nadirah McKenith exited the game with 5:40 remaining (right knee) and was replaced by sophomore Keylantra Langley.
McPherson Honored By BIG EAST
Junior Eugeneia McPherson recorded her first-ever conference accolade as she was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for Dec. 12. McPherson has been the most consistent scorer for the Red Storm, scoring in the double figures in all but three contests this season. McPherson was selected to the BE Honor Roll after her 20.5 points per game week against two top 25 teams in then-No. 20/21 DePaul and No. 1 Baylor. McPherson shot a season-best and tied her career-best with 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc against the Lady Bears (Dec. 11) en route to 23 points against the top-ranked program. Her 23 point-performance was a game high for both teams.
Against DePaul (Dec. 7), the guard led the team with 18 points.
McCorvey Added To STJ Staff
Former St. John's standout forward Joy McCorvey(2006-10) returns to the St. John's bench for the STJ-Chartwells Holiday Classic as she was added as assistant coach on Dec. 16. McCorvey helped the Red Storm to three-straight postseason appearances, including the Red Storm's 2009-10 run to the NCAA Tournament Second Round. She was a top 30 candidate for the Lowe's(R) Senior CLASS Award, a three-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star and is one of just four STJ players to amass more than 700 points and 700 rebounds. She is No. 3 in St. John's all-time rebounding records with 777 career boards. McCorvey also ranks fifth all-time in field goal percentage (.517) and No. 9 in career blocks with 72.
StormTracker
Junior Eugeneia McPherson has taken over the top spot in scoring from classmate Nadirah McKenith as she increases her scoring average to 14.0 points per game. McPherson has averaged 16.8 points per game in the last five games. McKenith is a close second with 13.0 points per game. She has tallied 651 points per her career.
Classmate Shenneika Smith is also hot on their trails as she posts an 11.6 points per game average and leads the team on the glass with 8.3 boards per game.
Rookie Amber Thompson continues to improve as she has averaged 13.7 points over the last three games and is shooting 46.6 percent for the season.
Redshirt sophomore Mary Nwachukwu is shooting .484 from the floor this season, a team-best.
St. John's has had a player reach a double-double in four of the past six games. Both Smith and Thompson have two each. Thompson marked her first-career double-double against Hartford (Dec. 4). Thompson had a career-best 16 rebounds to go with 10 points against DePaul (Dec. 7). Against Temple, Smith had a near double-double with 10 rebounds, eight points.
Up Next
St. John's will travel to Cambridge, Mass. to match up against Harvard on Dec. 22 at 3 p.m. The Thursday afternoon tipoff will be the last game before the Red Storm breaks for the holiday. The Red Storm will be back in action on Dec. 31, celebrating the final day of 2011 with a game against Boston University.
