Published: December 02, 2006
QUEENS, N.Y.
Sophomore guard Monique
McLean poured in 26 points to lead the St. John’s women’s
basketball team to a 54-46 victory over Monmouth Saturday
afternoon. Tiina
Sten posted a near double-double with 15 points and nine
rebounds and Angel
Tate had her fourth double-digit rebounding game to give the
Red Storm its second win of the year.
St. John’s (2-4) started two freshmen, two sophomores and a
junior and was without the services of senior point guard Kia
Wright, who missed the game with a re-aggravated muscle strain.
The Red Storm’s young lineup out-hustled the Hawks and made plays
and free throws down the stretch for the win.
McLean scored 13 points in each half en route to her career-high
26 points, and the Red Storm held a 23-20 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, St. John’s started with a 19-7 run and Sten hit
a jumper with 10:04 left to give the Red Storm its largest lead of
the game at 39-27.
Although the Hawks (4-3) battled back to pull within two points
with just over a minute left, McLean responded with a drive to the
lane and a layup and the Red Storm never looked back. In the last
minute, Sten and McLean both hit 2-of-2 free throws to seal the
win.
Freshman Joy
McCorvey scored five points and grabbed eight rebounds to help
lead the Red Storm to a 47-40 advantage on the boards. Sten,
meanwhile, barely missed a double-double with nine rebounds to go
with her 15 points, and set a new career-high with four blocks. In
one of the biggest plays down the stretch for St. John’s, Sten
blocked Hawk guard Brianne Edwards shot and gathered the loose ball
to preserve the four-point lead, then converted two free throws to
give St. John’s a 52-46 lead.
Charisse
Curtis, getting her second starting nod, hit a 3-pointer and
gave the Red Storm a solid 39 minutes. Nikki
Jo Rotolo, contributed three points and had a steal.
St. John’s will play its next three games at Carnesecca Arena.
Next up is a Monday night matchup with the defending champion of
the America East Conference, Hartford. Tipoff is 7 p.m.