St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
11-7 (3-2)
Marquette *
12-6 (3-2)
Marquette Slips By St. John's, 63-55
1/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2012
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NEW YORK - With a game that had 11 lead changes and five ties, it was Marquette that saw the winning end of a closely matched BIG EAST battle, 63-55 over St. John's at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon.
Led by junior Shenneika Smith with 13 points, the Red Storm had a chance to rally in the final four minutes of action, even cutting the Golden Eagles lead to four, 59-55 with 57 seconds left. Despite 3-point attempts by Da'Shena Stevens and Nadirah McKenith in the final minute, Marquette stayed ahead.
St. John's (11-7, 3-2 BIG EAST) had three players score in double figures with Smith, Eugeneia McPherson and McKenith each adding 10.
For Marquette (12-6, 3-2), Katherine Plouffe lead the way with a double double, 18 points, 11 rebounds. Katie Young added 16 while Arlesia Morse tallied 11.
St. John's will put the loss quickly to the side as the Red Storm will host No. 8/9 Rutgers on Tuesday, in front of a nationally televised audience on CBS Sports Network.
"When we play our `A' game, we are capable of beating anyone in the country. I think we witnessed that in the last couple weeks, even when we played against Baylor," said head coach Kim Barnes Arico. "But when we don't bring our `A' game anyone is capable of doing the same to us. We have to quickly bounce back with Rutgers on Tuesday. We have one day to prepare and Rutgers is a different type of team. We have to mentally be focused and try to get some energy and try to get some rest and be ready to go for Tuesday."
The game started with a tightly matched back and forth affair until Mary Nwachukwu's three-straight buckets helped the Red Storm take its first decisive lead over Marquette, 22-16 with 7:58 on the first-half clock.
The Golden Eagles rallied, going on a 9-0 run capped off by a Plouffe put back with 4:15 left in the opening period.
With less than two minutes to play in the period, McKenith went on a six-point scoring run, including a coast-to-coast fast break layup with 47.0 seconds left to go up 30-28 over the Golden Eagles. McPherson put the icing on the cake as she went driving to the lane for another two points for St. John's.
The Red Storm went into the locker room up 32-28 and the momentum swinging its way.
Smith scored first as the second half opened, but the tide of the game went the other way as Marquette went on a 16-4 run to take a 46-38 lead.
With less than eight minutes left to play, Marquette had extended its lead to 11, 55-44.
St. John's began a slow and steady come back, cutting the Golden Eagles lead to four, 57-53 after two made free throws by Stevens.
Plouffe made a layup with 1:06 to put the Golden Eagles back up six, 59-53. But McKenith answered back, rolling in a layup with 57 seconds left.
Despite two 3-point attempts by Stevens and McKenith, Marquette held on to the lead and made good on a layup from Sarina Simmons and two made free throws by Young.
The Red Storm outscored the Golden Eagles in second-chance points 12-2, points in the paint 36-30 and points off turnovers 19-16.
St. John's and No. 8/9 Rutgers tip off in the first of a home-and-home series between the two regional rivals. The New York-New Jersey conference rivalry will be aired live on CBS Sports Network with Brent Stover and Debbie Antonelli as the broadcasters with tip off slated for 7:05 p.m.
