St. John's University Athletics
Stevens And Smith Recognized At All-Metropolitan Writers Association Dinner
4/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
QUEENS, N.Y. -- St. John's women's basketball junior forward Da'Shena Stevens and sophomore guard Shenneika Smith were selected to the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) All-Met teams for the second-consecutive year, following their second-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and Second Round appearance. For the second season in a row, Stevens garnered All-Met First Team honors and Smith was named to the All-Met Second Team.
The pair will be honored at the 78th annual NIT/Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Awards dinner, along with Dwight Hardy, D.J. Kennedy and Justin Brownlee of the STJ men's basketball team, held at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, N.Y., on Tuesday evening.
Stevens and Smith gained national attention early on as both were named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team and the Preseason Naismith Trophy Award Watch List. Stevens was also noted as a Sporting News Preseason Second Team All-American. In early March, both players were named to the 2011 All-BIG EAST Second Team.
A Stamford, Conn., native, Stevens was also named to the Maryland Terrapin Classic All-Tournament Team. The junior forward was the first Red Storm player to reach 1,000 points since Kia Wright (2004-08). She finished the season with 1,243 career points, which ranks No. 11 on St. John's All-time scoring list. She averaged 6.4 rebounds per game as the squad's leading rebounder and 11.2 points per game as the Red Storm's second-leading scorer. During the 2010-11 season, Stevens also moved up the charts to No. 6 on the Red Storm's all-time rebounding list with 673 boards. As a junior, Stevens led the team in scoring 12 different times and rebounding on 17 different occasions. She tallied a team-best five double-doubles. In 2010, Stevens was named to the All-Met First Team as well as the 2010 All-Met Player of the Year.
 Shenneika Smith was named to the second team for the second year.  | |
Smith, a Brooklyn-born standout, led St. John's in scoring with 12.2 points per game. In just two seasons with the Red Storm, the guard has already tallied 816 career points, on track to be the 18th 1,000-point scorer in ST. John's history. Smith was honored as the Mrs. Eleanor Taffner MVP at the St. John's-Chartwells Holiday Classic and she recorded three 20-plus scoring efforts including a season- and career-best 28 vs. Liberty at the Maryland Terrapin Classic on Dec. 28. Smith, who started all 33 games this season, was second on the team with three double-doubles. Smith led the squad in scoring in 10 contests this season. In 2010, Smith was also named to the All-Met Second Team.
St. John's finished its 2010-11 season with many milestones; it was the first time in St. John's history the Red Storm made it to the NCAA tournament Second Round in back-to-back years. St. John's also faced a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time, playing against the Stanford Cardinal.
Ninth-year head coach Kim Barnes Arico continued to make her mark on the St. John's history books as she has taken the Red Storm to three NCAA Tournaments, the most of a single coach from St. John's. She also boasts a perfect record in First Round games, always advancing the Red Storm to the Round of 32. Barnes Arico was the first St. John's coach to take the Red Storm to back-to-back NCAA Tournament Appearances since Don Perrelli did it in 1983 and 1984.
In 2010-11, St. John's continued its successes from its historic 2009-10 season, as the Red Storm was ranked for 16-straight weeks in the Associated Press Poll (including the 2009-10 season); with its highest ranking at No. 17 on Dec. 27. In the ESPN/Coaches Poll, St. John's was ranked for 18-straight weeks and continues to receive votes in the latest poll released March 14.
With a win over Pittsburgh (Feb. 26), STJ celebrated its second-straight 20-win season, the fourth of Barnes Arico's nine-year tenure. Barnes Arico is only the second coach to have four 20-win seasons at St. John's.
All-Met First Team
Erica Allenspach (Marist)
Shante Evans (Hofstra)
Abby Wentworth (Manhattan)
Da'Shena Stevens (St. John's)
April Sykes (Rutgers)
Ashley Palmer (LIU)
All-Met Second Team
Erin Anthony (Army)
Khadijah Rushdan (Rutgers)
Shenneika Smith (St. John's)
Corielle Yarde (Marist)
Taryn Johnson (Fairfield)
All-Met Player of the Year: Erica Allenspach (Marist)
All-Met Coach of the Year: Brian Giorgis (Marist)
