Published: January 30, 2007
St. John’s had four players in double figures, built an early
lead and held on for a 78-61 BIG EAST victory over visiting DePaul
Tuesday night in Carnesecca Arena. The dynamic backcourt of
Monique McLean and Kia Wright had
20 and 17 points, respectively, while forward Angel
Tate controlled the glass with a team-high nine rebounds
and just missed her fifth double-double of the year by adding 16
points.
It was all Red Storm early, as St. John’s (7-12, 3-5 BIG EAST)
jumped out to a 17-4 lead on a 3-pointer by Wright with 12:31 left
in the first half. With St. John’s still holding a 13-point
advantage, 27-14, at the seven-minute mark, DePaul ended the half
on a 16-8 run to pull within five points, 35-30, at
intermission.
Tiina Sten, who finished with 14 points,
drained a 3-pointer for St. John’s to open the second half, and the
Red Storm held a comfortable lead throughout most of the
period.
The Blue Demons did cut the margin to six points on two free
throws by Missy Mitidiero to make the score 46-40 with 14:36 to
play, but St. John’s responded in a big way as McLean stole the
ball and passed ahead to Wright who finished an acrobatic layup
that energized the crowd and stretched the Red Storm’s lead back to
eight points.
Down the stretch, St. John’s led by as many as 21 points,
limited turnovers to a season-low eight and held the Blue Demons to
37.9 percent from the field to eventually preserve the 78-61
victory.
Wright, who dished out a game-high eight assists, also managed
six rebounds and a steal in 39 minutes. McLean also had an
all-around great night with eight rebounds and five assists, while
Tate proved herself as one of the up-and-coming post players in the
BIG EAST with 16 points, nine rebounds and two steals.
Freshman guard Nikki Jo Rotolo also gave St.
John’s solid minutes, knocking down a 3-pointer and a jumpshot in
the first half and grabbing a rebound in the second.
DePaul (14-8, 4-5) was led by Caprice Smith with 16 points and
eight rebounds.
After a brief stay in the confines of friendly Carnesecca Arena,
St. John’s returns to the road for a two-game swing. First up is a
5 p.m. Saturday contest at South Florida, followed by a Tuesday
tilt at West Virginia.
Notes:Kia Wright moved into
12th place on St. John’s all-time scoring chart, surpassing Dottie
Giordano (1974-78) … Wright now has 1,047 (passing Giordano’s total
of 1,043) … St. John’s set a new season-low for turnovers (eight) …
the previous low was 12 against both Rutgers (Jan. 2) and Villanova
(Jan. 27) … St. John’s got its first-ever victory over DePaul in
women’s basketball … the Blue Demons won last year’s meeting in
Chicago and the all-time series is now tied, 1-1 … St. John’s
earned its first home conference victory … the Red Storm won
back-to-back games for the first time this season.