St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
5-5
Quinnipiac
8-1
Quinnipiac Slips By St. John's, 75-72 In Hamden
12/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2012
HAMDEN, Conn. - Saturday's game at the TD Bank Sports Center saw seven ties and seven lead changes but it was Quinnipiac's Felecia Barron who made the final decision as she knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:56 left, giving the Bobcats a 73-72 lead over St. John's. Quinnipiac scored once more, despite four shot attempts by the Red Storm to tie it.
In the final 37 seconds, Quinnipiac scored again.
The Red Storm made some personnel changes in the waning seconds of play, but Quinnipiac had the momentum and held on for the 75-72 win.
St. John's (5-5) had four of its five starters score in double figures, led by senior guard Shenneika Smith who had 21 points, her second-straight 20-point performance and fifth of the season. Smith had her fourth double-double of the season with 11 rebounds, also a game-best. Smith played all 40 minutes.
Along with Smith, rookie guard Aliyyah Handford matched her career-high with 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Senior point guard Nadirah McKenith added 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting to go along with seven assists, a season-high. Connecticut-native Briana Brown also scored in double digits with 10 points.
Junior forward Mary Nwachukwu, the fifth starter for St. John's contributed eight points and tied Smith for game-high boards with 11, also a career-best for the Massachusetts native.
As a team, the Red Storm went 14-for-16 from the foul line, with both Handford and Brown a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe.
For Quinnipiac (8-1), five players reached double figures, led by Barron with 19. Samantha Guastella reached a double-double with 11 points, 10 boards.
Tied at 68, Handford scored on two-straight possessions to give St. John's back a four-point 72-68 lead with 3:03 remaining.
An inside putback by Brittany McQuain made it a two-point game, 72-70 with less than three minutes to go.
Barron subbed in on the final media time out of the game and seconds later hit the 3 from Nikoline Ostergaard to give Quinnpiac the final lead of the game, 73-72.
Both McQuiain and Ostergaard finished with 13 points.
At the half, St. John's led 39-37. St. John's had led by 13 at the 10:09 mark, 22-9.
The Red Storm dominated the inside game, outscoring Quinnipiac 46-36 in the paint.
St. John's will look to rebound from the loss on Friday night, when the Red Storm hosts NJIT in the final contest of 2012. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
