Published: December 07, 2006
QUEENS, N.Y.
The St. John's women's basketball team fell to Syracuse, 61-59,
at Carnesecca Arena on Thursday night in the BIG EAST Conference
opener for both schools. Sophomore Monique McLean
turned in a dynamic effort and finished an assist away from a
triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Tiina Sten added 16 points for her sixth straight
double-digit scoring effort, and Angel Tate
grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in the loss.
The Red Storm fell to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in BIG EAST action
with the setback, while Syracuse improved to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in
the league.
McLean was the catalyst for the Red Storm, posting her second
20-plus point effort in three games and dishing out a career-high
nine assists. She knocked down 8-of-21 field goals and 5-of-10
3-pointers and scored or assisted on all of St. John's 11
first-half baskets.
The frontcourt combination of Sten, Tate and Joy
McCorvey was active in the paint against the Orange's big
front line to help the Red Storm to a 42-31 rebounding advantage.
Tate added six points to her career-high total of 15 boards, while
Sten needed just nine shots to score 16 points and McCorvey
recorded three blocked shots.
Syracuse stormed out of the gates, going on a 15-2 run to start
the game and open up what would be its biggest lead of the contest.
The Red Storm chipped away at the lead from the perimeter as
Nikki Jo Rotolo, McLean and Sten all knocked down
3-pointers over the next eight minutes to pull St. John's within
two points at 24-22. The Orange upped its lead to as many as six
points the rest of the way and took a 35-31 lead into the half.
The second half started the same as the first half ended, and
the Orange lead fluctuated between two and five points through the
opening eight minutes. Syracuse used an 8-0 run midway through the
period to open up a 53-42 lead, but the Red Storm again battled
back with a 12-2 run to get back to within two points at 56-54.
A jumper by Vaida Sipaviciute and a pair of free throws by
Nicole Michael gave the Orange a 60-54 advantage with 43 seconds
remaining. Charisse Curtis hit a 3-pointer as time expired to close
the final gap to 61-59, as Syracuse led the tight contest
throughout and won its BIG EAST opener.
The Red Storm wraps up a four-game home stand on Sunday with a 2
p.m. non-conference matchup with Nicholls State. St. John's plays
three more non-conference opponents on the road, before starting a
run of 15 straight BIG EAST contests on Jan. 2 vs. Rutgers (7 p.m.,
Carnesecca Arena).