Published: November 24, 2006
ORONO, Maine
The St. John’s women’s basketball team was edged by Clemson,
95-88, on Friday at the Dead River Company Classic at Alfond Arena
on the campus of the University of Maine. St. John’s was led by
Tiina
Sten, who finished with a career-high 27 points, and
Kia
Wright, who scored 25 points and dished out eight
assists.
Sten hit a 3-pointer to score the first points of the game and put
St. John’s up, 3-0. The teams battled back and forth early, with
St. John’s taking advantage of Clemson’s zone defense by knocking
down outside shots. After back-to-back 3-pointers by Wright, the
score was tied at 14 and Clemson called timeout with 12:53 left in
the half.
From there, the Red Storm responded with a 7-0 run, capped off by a
3-pointer by
Monique
McLean to take a 21-14 lead with 10:31 left in the half. McLean
was seeing her first action of the season after recovering from
knee surgery and was solid in her debut, shooting well from the
outside and crashing the boards. She finished the half with nine
points including a perfect 2-for-2 mark from behind the 3-point
line.
But Sten was the story of the first half, as she surpassed her
previous of career high of 11 points by scoring 16 in the first
stanza. The Turku, Finland, native was 6-for-7 from the field,
including two 3-pointers. She also posted two blocks, a steal and
two assists in the first half.
The seven-point St. John’s lead was its largest of the first half,
and Clemson fought back to take a four-point lead with under a
minute left. After a
Charisse
Curtis 3-pointer for St. John’s, Adrianne Bradshaw converted a
3-point play to give the Tigers a 44-41 lead at the
intermission.
Angel
Tate scored the first six points of the second half to pull St.
John’s within one point, and Wright tied the score at 50 with a
3-pointer at the 15:35 mark.
Later in the second half, Wright hit back-to-back baskets to put
the Red Storm ahead 71-65, and later Curtis nailed a 3-pointer to
give St. John’s its largest lead of the game, 74-67 with 7:55
left.
Clemson again battled back from the deficit, and the game came down
to the final four minutes. With the Tigers leading, 82-80, Carrie
Whitehurst hit a 3-pointer and Clemson got back-to-back baskets
from Lele Hardy and D’Lesha Taylor to lead 89-80 with 1:41 left.
The Red Storm could not come back from the nine-point deficit and
Clemson won by a final score of 95-88.
Wright, back to form after an early season ankle injury, finished
with 25 points, eight assists, five rebounds and a steal.
Sten continued her strong play in the second half and ended the
night with new career highs: 27 points (9-for-11 FG, 2-2 3FG, 7-7
FT) and three assists.
Also in double figures for St. John's were McLean (11 points) and
Tate (10 points). Freshman
Joy
McCorvey led the squad with nine rebounds.
The Dead River Company Classic continues Saturday at Alfond Arena.
Next up for the Red Storm at the Dead River Company Classic is a
Saturday game against the loser of Brown/Maine. Stay tuned to
www.RedStormSports.com for the most-up-to-date schedule and
information on St. John’s women’s basketball.