St. John's University Athletics
Women's Hoops Closes Out Regular Season At Providence
3/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 2, 2014
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's women's basketball team closes out the regular season on Monday night as the Red Storm (19-9, 12-5 BIG EAST) looks to halt a four-game losing skid in a 7 p.m. conference clash at Providence (7-21, 2-15 BIG EAST).
Last Time Out
- Junior forward Amber Thompson recorded her seventh double-double of the season and the St. John's women's basketball team saw five players score in double figures but the Red Storm could not top DePaul on its Senior Day in front of 1,828 fans at Carnesecca Arena on March 1 as the Blue Demons picked up an 80-65 road victory in BIG EAST play.
- Sophomore guard Aliyyah Handford scored a team-high 14 points and seniors Eugeneia McPherson and Keylantra Langley each notched double digits in their final appearance on their home floor, scoring 13 points and 12 points, respectively. Captain Briana Brown, St. John's third senior honored prior to tip, tallied five rebounds, four points and a team-high three assists with one block in her final Queens outing. Thompson, who had 10 rebounds in the first half alone, finished with 15 for the game to go with 10 points and a pair of blocks.
- The Red Storm finished the day shooting 66.7 percent from the foul line with Handford going 4-for-5 and Langley 4-of-6 in free throws. St. John's shot 39.7 from the field overall with Grant and Langley each connecting on a pair of 3-pointers.
Scouting The Friars
- Providence enters the final regular season game of 2013-14 campaign with a 7-21 overall record and 2-15 mark in conference action. The Friars two league wins have come against Georgetown and Xavier.
- The Friars have three student-athletes scoring in double digits with Tori Rule leading the charge knocking in 16.2 points in 30.8 minutes per game, while forward Alexis Harris scores 14.4 points and averages a team-high 8.9 boards per contest.
- With 56 made 3-point field goals, Rule sits at fifth in the BIG EAST in the category and is also fifth in the conference in points per game, while Harris is third in the league in defensive rebounds averaging 6.4 a contest.
St. John's & Providence - The Series
- St. John's owns a 33-26 all-time record over Providence. The conference foes have met at Providence's Alumni Hall 26 times and the Red Storm is 16-10 when playing in the Rhode Island arena.
- The last meeting between the two teams saw St. John's earn an 85-65 win over the Friars behind Danaejah Grant's first career double-double and five Red Storm student-athletes tallying double figure performances. St. John's set season highs in bench points with 47, total rebounds with 59 and offensive rebounds with 23, finishing plus-22 on the glass while scoring 58 points in the paint and holding a 22-5 edge in second chance points.
BIG EAST Leaders
- In the BIG EAST, St. John's sits atop the BIG EAST list for 3-point field goal percentage defense after limiting opponents to just a 26.8 mark from behind the arc. The Red Storm is also ranked second in field goal percentage with a .433 mark, second in 3-point field goal percentage (33.1), second in rebounding defense (35.4) and second in scoring defense (62.4).
- Individually, Amber Thompson ranks in the top-five in four categories as she is third in blocked shots (1.5 bpg), fourth in field goal percentage (.500), fourth in offensive rebounding (3.4) and fifth in rebounds (9.2 rpg). Briana Brown is third in 3-point field percentage with a 37.2 clip, while Aliyyah Handford is fifth in both field goal percentage (49.0) and steals (1.8).
Sharp-Shooting Seniors
- St. John's trio of seniors lead the Red Storm from behind the arc combining for 68 of the squad's 100 3-pointers. Briana Brown has a team-high 32 3-pointers, Keylantra Langley has hit 20 and Eugeneia McPherson has knocked in 18.
Red Storm Receiving Votes In National Polls
- In the Feb. 24 national rankings, St. John's received 10 votes in the AP Top 25 and five nods in the USA Today Coaches Poll, earning votes in four-straight Coaches Poll.
- The Red Storm is highest ranking of the season came in the Feb. 17 poll as St. John's was selected No. 22 after receiving 132 points. St. John's Feb. 10 ranking of No. 24 marked the first time since Nov. 26, 2012 when the Red Storm was ranked No. 17 with 314 points.
Thompson Taking Over
- Junior Amber Thompson has kicked it into high gear since the Red Storm's upset victory over No. 24 Texas A&M in the Maggie Dixon Classic. In St. John's last 19 games, Thompson is averaging 9.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Thompson, scoring in double figures in nine out of St. John's last 19 outings, has notched six double-doubles during her surge and now has 14 in her three-year career.
- Over a five-game stint spanning from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15, Thompson grabbed 15-plus rebounds in three of the contests.
- Thompson is averaging a double-double over the last five games scoring 10.0 points and pulling down 1.6 rebounds per game.
- In BIG EAST action, Thompson leads the team and is third in the conference in rebounding with 10.4 grabs per game and is adding 9.6 points per game.
Red Storm 3-Point Defense Ranks Top-10 In The Country
- The Red Storm defense has been solid in 2013-14, holding opponents to just 62.4 points per game. St. John's foes are hitting just 26.8 percent of their attempts from behind the arc ranking the Red Storm 9th in the country in 3-point field goal defense.
- St. John's jumped to the nation's third ranked 3FG defense on Feb. 3 after limiting Seton Hall to a 0.00 mark from behind the arc on Feb. 1 when the Pirates went 0-for-12. It was the best 3-point defensive effort since Feb. 17, 2013 when the Red Storm held Cincinnati to a .000 (0-for-6) mark at Carnesecca.
- In 2013-14, the Red Storm has limited two opponents to under a 10.0 percent mark from the 3-point with the most recent coming at Seton Hall. Additionally, the Red Storm held Marquette 1-of-14 for a 7.1 percentage and in the 2013-14 conference opener against Seton Hall, St. John's limited the Pirates to a 9.1 (1-for-11) percentage from behind the arc.
Road Trips
- In 12 road contests this year, the Red Storm is 7-5. At away venues, the Red Storm are outscoring opponents 64.7 to 62.8 after earning its seven wins by an average of 7.3 points.
- On the road, Aliyyah Handford leads St. John's with 15.8 points per game and Amber Thompson pulls in a team-best 8.4 rebounds per game.
Up Next
- St. John's heads to Chicago for the 2014 Women's Basketball BIG EAST Championship which runs from Saturday, March 8, to Tuesday, March 11. With a win over the Friars on Monday evening, the Red Storm will clinch the No. 2 seed earning themselves a First Round bye
Players Mentioned
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Forward
/ Women's BasketballThursday, March 19
Tuesday, March 10
Sunday, March 08
Saturday, March 07