Dec. 3, 2008

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QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's women's basketball team fought off a late comeback by Monmouth, as Monique McLean scored four points in the final 20 seconds of play to give the Red Storm the 52-48 victory on Wednesday night in Carnesecca Arena.

"Monique made some big plays at the end of the game and I was very proud of her," said head coach Kim Barnes Arico. "I thought we came out strong but fell into their trap of how they wanted us to play. Monmouth played well and made some big shots at the end, but we fought them off and even when we went down a point we were able to come back."

With the win, the Red Storm improves to a perfect 7-0 on the year, while the Hawks' record drops to 4-2.

Rookie Da'Shena Stevens led the way for St. John's with a game-high 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Ten of her points came in the opening half as she registered her fifth double-digit scoring effort of the year. She also chipped in a game-high seven rebounds to pace the way in that category for the fourth time.

McLean posted her sixth double-digit scoring effort of the year with 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting and a perfect 4-of-4 performance from the charity stripe. The senior took the game into her hands down the stretch and came away with four points and two key steals to clinch the victory for STJ. McLean also added six rebounds and finished with five steals.

St. John's got off to a quick start and outscored Monmouth 27-15 in the opening frame, using an 11-2 run to open and a 16-5 run to close out the half. The Red Storm shot 41.9 percent from the field, going 13-of-31, while the Hawks struggled to get things going, shooting 29.2 percent on a 7-of-24 effort.

MU quickly turned things around in the second half and used a 6-2 run to cut the lead to seven, but STJ countered and built a 14-point advantage, 36-22, at 12:13. The Hawks stayed close the remainder of the way, and at 4:41, went on a 9-0 run to come within two, 47-45, with 2:04 remaining.

After a STJ foul, Monmouth got the ball back and took its first lead of the game when Jennifer Bender nailed a jumper and converted the free throw for the extra point, 48-47.

The Red Storm got the ball back and Joy McCorvey tied the game when she hit a free throw with 58 seconds remaining. The rest of the game was all McLean, as she came away with a steal on the next MU possession and hit an off-balanced jump shot with 20 seconds left to put STJ back in front by two, 50-48. She came away with another steal on the ensuing Hawk play and iced the game by hitting two free throws at the 10-second mark.

St. John's will look to continue its winning ways when it travels to face No. 10/10 Baylor on Saturday in Waco, Texas, at 8 p.m.