St. John's University Athletics
Tartamella Releases 2012-13 Women's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule
8/2/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Aug. 2, 2012
- 2012-13 Non-Conference Schedule (as of 8/2/12) (Printable PDF)
- WATCH NOW! StormTracker All-Access: Head coach Joe_Tartamella breaks down 2012-13 non-conf slate
- Request 2012-13 Season Ticket Information
QUEENS, N.Y. - Fourteen home dates, ten 2012 NCAA Tournament opponents and a Sweet 16 rematch against Duke in the seventh-annual Maggie Dixon Classic highlight the 2012-13 St. John's women's basketball non-conference schedule released by head coach Joe Tartamella on Thursday.
The Red Storm's upcoming non-conference schedule includes contests against the ACC, America East, Big 12, CAA, Conference USA, Great West, NEC, Ohio Valley, Pac-12, and WCC conferences. The non-league slate in Carnesecca Arena is highlighted by St. John's annual holiday tournament, the Chartwells Holiday Classic on Dec. 15-16, which includes Tennessee Tech, UCLA and Saint Mary's, three of six first-time opponents for the Red Storm in 2012-13.
"We've really challenged ourselves as a veteran team with our non-conference schedule," said Tartamella. "We have a good mixture of teams that have been in the top 25, to very strong mid-major programs. Our philosophy was to make sure we tested ourselves early for our BIG EAST schedule. It's important that we show our fans and our alumni base that we're going to play a competitive schedule each and every year. With the veteran team we have, we were built to test ourselves a little bit more this year. We'll see early what we are made of."
Tartamella and the Red Storm open the 2012-13 campaign in Florida at the WBI Tip Off Invitational at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla. St. John's will play its season-opener against fellow 2012 NCAA Tournament squad, Texas, on Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. It is only the second meeting between St. John's and Texas, with their only other meeting taking place in Austin, Texas on Jan. 13, 1978. The Red Storm will get a taste of what BIG EAST Conference action will look like in 2013-14 as St. John's plays UCF during the second day of tournament action, Nov. 11, also at 2 p.m. The Red Storm and Knights have never played each other previously.
St. John's opens the home season at Carnesecca Arena with two-consecutive games against local opponents. The Red Storm will host Hofstra on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. Last year, the Red Storm and Pride renewed a 15-year local rivalry that had been on hiatus since 2005. Following the Red Storm's match up against the Pride, St. John's will host the Iona Gaels in a mid-week, mid-afternoon tip off that will kick off the Thanksgiving weekend. St. John's holds an 11-2 series advantage over Iona. The teams last met during the regular season in 2006, but the Red Storm defeated the Gaels, 65-59, during St. John's run in the 2008 postseason WNIT.
The Red Storm will take to the road after the Thanksgiving break, heading to the Chase Family Arena in Hartford, Conn., where St. John's will play Hartford on Nov. 25. The Red Storm tied the all-time series at 2-2 after defeating the Hawks, 70-45, on Dec. 4, 2011. Nearly a week later, St. John's will travel further north to play the Boston Terriers in Massachusetts' state capital on Dec. 1. St. John's holds a 13-3 series record over Boston University, last playing at "the Roof" in Boston on Dec. 4, 2010.
On Dec. 9, St. John's will once again be one of the four featured teams invited to play in the Maggie Dixon Classic, celebrating its sixth year at Madison Square Garden, seventh overall. Last season, the Red Storm went up against the eventual 2012 NCAA Champions, Baylor, in New York City's basketball mecca. St. John's gave the Bears and national television audiences an exciting morning, with the unranked Red Storm leading the No. 1 Bears after halftime. This year, St. John's will get a chance for redemption as Madison Square Garden and the Dixon Family selected Duke, the Red Storm's 2012 Sweet 16 opponent, as its pairing for the seventh annual Maggie Dixon Classic. The Blue Devils, who finished the 2011-12 season ranked No. 6, ended the Red Storm's run in the NCAA Tournament last year in the Fresno Regional Semifinal. Duke was then defeated by top-seeded Stanford in the Elite Eight. The Red Storm and Blue Devils' Sweet 16 rematch will be preceded by Rutgers vs. Louisiana Tech.
In mid-December, the Red Storm will host Tennessee Tech, UCLA and Saint Mary's in the fifth annual St. John's Chartwells Holiday Classic. The Red Storm will play the Golden Eagles, who were the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament runner up, in a noon tip off on Saturday, Dec. 15. The second game of the doubleheader will be played by UCLA and Saint Mary's. The Gaels advanced to the Second Round of the WNIT postseason tournament after losing to then-No. 20 Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Semifinals. Saturday's winners will play on Sunday, Dec. 16 in the championship game at 2:30 p.m. The consolation will precede the championship at noon.
After the holiday tournament, the Red Storm will travel to Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn. on Saturday, Dec. 22. It is a first-time meeting between the two tri-state area teams.
St. John's will close out the 2012 calendar year with another first-time opponent, NJIT. The Red Storm and Highlanders will tip off on Friday, Dec. 28 in Carnesecca Arena.
The Red Storm will finish up non-league play hosting Delaware, another 2012 NCAA Tournament competitor and fellow No. 3 seed. The Blue Hens and Red Storm have met just three times, with their last meeting in the first round of the 2005 postseason WNIT. St. John's got the best of Delaware on the road, winning 48-42 on March 17, 2005. The Blue Hens finished the 2011-12 season ranked No. 7/14 in the top 25 polls after losing to Kansas 70-64 in the NCAA Tournament Second Round.
When conference action tips off in January, the Red Storm will welcome Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Pittsburgh and Syracuse to New York this season; while traveling to Louisville, Marquette, 2012 NCAA Tournament runner up Notre Dame, Providence, USF and Villanova. St. John's will also play home and home series' against Rutgers and Seton Hall.
The BIG EAST Conference will release a complete composite schedule for its member schools, including dates, game times and both national and regional television information at a later date. For the second-straight season, all 2012-13 home games will be produced for live national or regional broadcast platforms, some courtesy of the St. John's Television Network (STJ-TV).
The 2012-13 Red Storm squad returns four starters, eight letterwinners and 79 percent of its scoring from its 2011-12 team that posted a 24-10 overall record and advanced to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. The 2011-12 Red Storm also enjoyed a No. 3 seed, a program best, and finished second in the BIG EAST Conference (13-3) after being picked to finish seventh in the league's preseason poll. St. John's defeated six ranked opponents and finished the season ranked No. 13/15 in the national polls. For the 2012-13 season, St. John's was selected as one of ESPN's 25 teams to watch, with the Red Storm at No. 10. In 2011, the national sports network rated the Red Storm as No. 25 in the same poll.
Keep up to date on all St. John's women's basketball news by following St. John's women's basketball (@STJ_WBasketball) and head coach Joe Tartamella (@STJ_CoachT) on Twitter!
To request 2012-13 season ticket information, please fill out a ticket information request. Season ticket information will be released later this month, along with NCAA tournament pricing.
