St. John's University Athletics
McKenith Named BIG EAST Player Of The Week
2/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2012
QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's junior point guard Nadirah McKenith was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Red Storm to a 57-56 upset at then-No. 2 Connecticut on Saturday.
The Newark, N.J. native had a complete stat line against the Huskies, helping the then-unranked Red Storm end UConn's 99-game home court winning streak. McKenith led St. John's with 15 points, while adding seven rebounds, seven assists, four steals and a block.
She went 5-of-9 from the floor, connected on the only 3-point attempt she took, and went 4-of-6 from the free throw line. Her shots from the foul line with under eight minutes to go tied the game at 48. Later, she set up teammate Shenneika Smith for the game-winning 3-pointer with eight seconds left.
The Player of the Week accolade is a first for McKenith. For her career, McKenith was also named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Feb. 15 and was a BIG EAST All-Freshman Team member in 2010.
McKenith becomes St. John's first BIG EAST Player of the Week since Monique McLean received the honor on Jan. 5, 2009.
McKenith also gained national attention as she was named the College Sports Madness National Women's Basketball Player of the Week as well as CSM's BIG EAST Player of the Week. Earlier this season, McKenith was named one of the top 20 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award.
As of Monday's Division I statistical rankings, McKenith is No. 34 assists per game (5.0), 67th in assist-turnover ratio (1.57) and 71st in steals per game (2.5).
In the BIG EAST, McKenith is No. 28 in scoring (11.7 ppg), second in steals, third in assists, 11th in defensive rebounds (4.4 per game) and 13th in free throw percentage (.745).
St. John's, who entered the AP Poll on Monday as No. 20, will take on West Virginia on Tuesday night on CBSSN. The contest is the Red Storm's designated Play4Kay night and will begin at 7 p.m. West Virginia is receiving votes in the AP Poll and is a couple votes short as No. 26.
