St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Hosts Fifth-Annual Chartwells Holiday Classic
12/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2012
GAME 1 INFO
rv/rv St. John's (4-3) vs. Tennessee Tech (5-4)
St. John's Chartwells Holiday Classic
Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 at Noon ET
Carnesecca Arena (5,602) | Queens, N.Y.
ESPN3
PxP: Ralph Bednarczyk | Analyst: Julianne Viani
- Holiday Classic Game Notes (PDF)
- WATCH NOW! ESPN3 Exclusive (Free): St. John's vs. Tennessee Tech
- Buy Tickets Now!
- Follow @STJ_WBasketball on Twitter #stjwbb
St. John's Chartwells Holiday Classic
Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 at 2 p.m. ET (approx.)
QUEENS, N.Y. - On Dec. 15-16, St. John's will welcome Tennessee Tech, Saint Mary's and No. 14/17 UCLA to Queens, N.Y., as the Red Storm hosts the fifth-annual Chartwells Holiday Classic. In the first game, St. John's will host the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech at noon, in a game broadcast on ESPN3. UCLA and Saint Mary's will tip off approximately 20 minutes after the finish of the first game, around 2 p.m.
Sunday will start with the noon consolation game, followed by a 2 p.m. championship match.
After the completion of the championship on Sunday, a five-member all-tournament team will be selected as well as a tournament Most Valuable Player.
Classic Quick Tips
Last year, St. John's defeated Memphis, 64-60, to win the Holiday Classic title. Eugeneia McPherson was named the tournament's MVP. The Red Storm is 8-0 in the STJ Holiday Classic.
St. John's has never played any of the opponents in their year's Classic field.
St. John's (4-3) will be looking to rebound off of a 60-42 loss to No. 4 Duke at the Maggie Dixon Classic on Dec. 9. Despite the loss, the Red Storm did not disappoint fans at Madison Square Garden as St. John's battled back in the second half, holding the Blue Devils to its lowest point-total this season. Senior guard Nadirah McKenith scored 19 points.
The Red Storm is 2-0 at Carnesecca Arena so far this season with wins over Hofstra and Iona. St. John's has not played a game at Carnesecca Arena since Nov. 25.
Saturday's game against Tennessee Tech is the Red Storm's first game against a member of the Ohio Valley Conference since 1985. St. John's defeated Eastern Illinois University, 73-56 on Nov. 29, 1985.
Watch STJ-TV on ESPN3
All of St. John's women's basketball home games will be carried live nationally on ESPN3 as a production of the newly-created St. John's Television Network (STJ-TV).
The Red Storm is the only women's program to have a national presence for every home contest. St. John's also had its annual St. John's Basketball Media Day and Red Storm Tip Off carried live via ESPN3.
ESPN3 is ESPN's live multi-screen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually and accessible online via WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members. ESPN3 is currently available to 74 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.
This weekend's Holiday Classic will be produced by Matt Borzello and Neil Gallow for STJ-TV. Ralph Bednarczyk and Julianne Viani will call the action for all four games from center court.
Red Storm vs. Golden Eagles - The Series
Saturday's meeting is the first between St. John's and Tennessee Tech.
Scouting The Golden Eagles
Tennessee Tech (5-4) was picked as the preseason favorite in the Ohio Valley Conference's East Division. Senior guard Jala Harris, who currently averages 9.6 points for Tennessee Tech, was selected to the preseason OVC, all-conference team.
Currently, sophomore Diamond Henderson leads the Golden Eagles in scoring with 16.9 ppg.
Tennessee Tech is currently on a two-game winning streak, defeating Samford (Dec. 6), 65-56 and Western Carolina (Dec. 8), 61-56. The win against Western Carolina was the first road victory for the Golden Eagles.
Diamond Henderson had a career-best 31 points against Akron (Nov. 3).
In 2011-12, the Golden Eagles made it to the OVC Tournament Final, but lost to UT-Martin, 82-65.
Scouting The Classic Competition
UCLA (5-1) is ranked in the top 20 in both top 25 poll at No. 14 and No. 17. The Bruins were picked to finish third in the Pac 12 Conference.
The Bruins are 2-1 against other ranked opponents. UCLA defeated then-No. 11 Oklahoma, 86-80 on Nov. 14 and most-recently, then-No. 12 Texas, 62-42 on Dec. 8.
If the Bruins and Red Storm meet on Sunday, it will be the second BIG EAST opponent for UCLA this season. UCLA lost to then-No. 5 Notre Dame, 76-64 on Nov. 23.
Senior guard/forward Markel Walker leads the Bruins with an average of 16.3 points per game.
The last Pac-12 school St. John's played was Stanford in the 2011 NCAA Tournament Second Round. St. John's lost, 75-49 (March 21).
Saint Mary's (6-2) comes into the Holiday Classic on a five-game winning streak, most recently defeating UC-Davis, 75-56 on Dec. 6. The trip to New York is the Gaels' first off the west coast this season as all of their games have been played either in California, Oregon and Washington.
Junior guard Jackie Nared leads Saint Mary's in scoring with 18.6 points per game. Rookie Shannon Mauldin is the team's leading rebounder with 11.8 boards per game. She is also second on the team in scoring with 13.5 ppg.
Saint Mary's as a team is broken down to five freshmen, three sophomores, four juniors and three seniors.
The last team St. John's played from the West Coast Conference was in 2002 when the Red Storm lost to Pepperdine, 89-60 on the road. Overall, St. John's is 1-4 against five different teams from the WCC.
Coaching Match Up
Joe Tartamella is 4-3 after making his coaching debut at the WBI Tip Off Invitational on Nov. 9-11. Tartamella earned his first-career coaching victory, 72-54, vs. UCF (Nov. 11). Tartamella has been part of the Red Storm coaching staff for the past nine years, moving up the ranks from graduate assistant to assistant coach to associate head coach; before he was hired as the eighth head coach in program history in April. He has been an integral part of four NCAA Tournaments appearances, with an undefeated record in the First Round, including St. John's run to its first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 in 2012.
Jim Davis, the head coach of Tennessee Tech is in his first season at the helm of the Golden Eagles. Overall, he boasts a record of 505-244.
For Saint Mary's, head coach Paul Thomas is in his seventh year with the Gaels. Thomas is 111-86 with Saint Mary's. Overall, his record is 344-244.
Head Coach of the UCLA Gaels, Cori Close is in her second year as head coach with a record of 19-17. Overall, she is 442-164.
Red Storm In The Classic
St. John's is undefeated in the Holiday Classic at 8-0. Last season, the Red Storm defeated Prairie View A&M, 66-50 and Memphis, 64-60 en route to its fourth Holiday Classic Title. Then-junior Eugeneia McPherson was named the Eleanor Taffner Tournament MVP as she averaged 16.5 points per game in the 2011 Tourney. Shenneika Smith and then-senior Da'Shena Stevens were also named to the All-Tournament squad for St. John's.
Smith averages 14.7 points per game in Holiday Classic games (six).
In 2010-11, Smith was named the Tournament MVP. St. John's defeated Southern Mississippi, 81-50 in the first round and UC-Santa Barbara, 56-47 in the tournament final. In 2009-10, the Red Storm defeated Texas-Arlighton, 79-47, and Virginia Tech, 75-62 en route to the classic crown. Smith was also a member of the 2009 All-Tourney squad.
On This Date In St. John's history
The last time St. John's played on Dec. 15 was during the 2002-03 season. The Red Storm defeated St. Peter's on the road, 68-68. Overall, the Red Storm is 5-2 on Dec. 15.
The last time the Red Storm played on Dec. 16 was against Howard in Queens in 2008. St. John's defeated Howard, 66-36. Overall, St. John's is 1-2 on Dec. 16.
Postgame Notes: Maggie Dixon Classic
St. John's lost to then-No. 4 Duke, 60-42 at the seventh-annual Maggie Dixon Classic on Dec. 9. Despite the loss, STJ held Duke to its lowest point total of the season. The previous season-low was 71 at Michigan (Nov. 28).
The Red Storm blocked ten shots for the second time this season. St. John's had 12 against Hofstra (Nov. 17).
St. John's started the fourth different starting lineup in seven games, fifth counting the exhibition contest against Farmingdale.
In the second half, St. John's outscored Duke off turnovers and had more second chance, fast break and bench points. Duke only outscored St. John's by three, 24-21 in the second period.
It was St. John's second-straight appearance in the seventh-annual Maggie Dixon Classic.
Senior Nadirah McKenith scored a team-high 19 points. Entering Saturday's game she is five points shy of becoming the 19th women's basketball player to cross the 1,000-point plateau. McKenith outscored Duke 12-10 in the first 10 minutes of the second half and added an assist during the stretch as well.
Against First-Time Opponents
St. John's is 1-0 in debut match ups in 2012-13. The Red Storm played its first-ever game against the UCF Knights during the opening weekend of play in Daytona Beach, Fla. St. John's won 72-54.
St. John's has three additional first-time opponents on the schedule this season. Other opponents include: Tennessee Tech, UCLA and Saint Mary's. All Three of those teams are participating in St. John's - Chartwells Holiday Classic.
Block Party
Shenneika Smith recorded a career-best five blocks against Hartford (Nov. 25), giving her a season-total of 19 to date. For her career, Smith is No. 5 all-time with 109. As of the Dec. 10 NCAA statistical rankings, Smith is No. 11 of all Division I players and No. 2 in the BIG EAST. Smith has helped St. John's to a No. 4 ranking in the NCAA rankings. St. John's leads the BIG EAST with 7.0 blocks per game.
The St. John's men's basketball team also has been successful blocking opponents. The Red Storm men also lead the BIG EAST and are No. 2 in the country with 9.0 per game.
Approaching 1,000
Senior point guard Nadirah McKenith is five points shy of reaching the 1,000-point plateau as she enters Saturday's game with 995 career points. McKenith will become the 19th women's basketball player to reach the milestone, joining former teammate Da'Shena Stevens and current teammate Shenneika Smith on that list.
Before her season-ending injury against Hartford (Nov. 25), classmate Eugeneia McPherson was also nearing the 1,000-point plateau. McPherson has 871 points to date.
Up Next
After the Holiday Classic, St. John's will once again be on the road, this time traveling to Hamden, Conn., to face the Quinnipiac Bobcats of the Northeast Conference (NEC). The Red Storm and Bobcats will tip off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 22.
After a brief holiday break, the Red Storm will be back in action again on Dec. 28, facing NJIT at 7 p.m. at Carnesecca Arena.
