Red Storm headed to the 'Ville

MONDAY @ THE COUPLE:

.

-Interesting BIG EAST facts

.

-The "Ville" prepares for the Red Storm.

.

Sky Lindsay, pictured right, is one of six returning St. John's players that saw significant minutes against Louisville last year in BIG EAST regular season play. The Red Storm blew the LADY CARDS out of the water in Queens last year 91-56.

.

How many BIG EAST teams are still undefeated as we roll into 2011? WVU. At 14-0, the Lady Mountaineers have been rolling up the points against non-conference foes...including a 63-37 beatdown of Central Connecticut on Sunday. All 16 BIG EAST squads are .500 or better.

.

The Maggie Dixon Classic in New York City's Madison Square Garden drew 15,232 to see UConn play Ohio State and Rutgers face Texas A&M. It was the second largest crowd to see women's basketball game in MSG history.

.

***********************************************************************************************

.

#18 St. John's women's basketball team 'storms' into the 'Ville Tuesday night with an impressive 12-2 record. The Red Storm returns nine letter winners from last year's team and six key players from the win over Louisville last year.

.

Shenneika Smith leads St. John with 14.7 ppg. and 7.2 rebounds. The 6'1" wing is equally dangerous from inside or out and put 21 points on the Cards last year.

.

Da'Shena Stevens is another returnee from 2009-10 who is a major player for St. John. With an average of 12.7 ppg. and 7.3 boards, Stevens is another full court threat. Had 14 last year.

.

Eugeneia McPherson is next in scoring with 11.0 a game. A quick and talented player that had a rough shooting night last year against Louisville...going 1-7 for only 2 points.

.

Centhya Hart gets 9.2 a game for the Red Storm. She totaled four points in mop up minutes last year vs. the Cards.

.

Nadirah McKenith adds to the Storm scoring attack with 7.1 ppg. She's a ball hawk. She had 12 points and 7 steals against the Lady Cards last time.

.

Sky Lindsay, a quick and talented guard for St. John has totaled 6.3 ppg. for St. John this season. She got nine points in win over Louisville last year.

.

St. John has some local talent returning to Louisville tomorrow also. Zakiyyah Shahid-Martin is a 6'2" freshman F/C that played for Louisville DuPont Manual last year. In limited action this year for the Red Storm, she's scored 3 points in nine games...with no starts.

.

St. John's two losses have come on the road, against Kansas State early in the season and most recently at Maryland. The Cards and St. John share one opponent this year...St. John beating Marist in Kansas and Louisville losing to them in Las Vegas. St. John averages 67.2 points a game and limits opponents to 51.7 a contest. They're out rebounding foes 42.5 to 34.4 a game.

The Red Storm has 157 steals per event and opponents only 89. St. John has forced 274 turnovers this season and turned the ball over 213 times.

.

St. John has reached the 80 point plateau twice this season, scored 70+ four times, 60+ five times and 50+ three times. Coached by Kim Barnes Arico, in her eighth year at the school, the Red Storm went 25-7 last season, 12-4 in regular BIG EAST play and made it to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. Barnes is 130-113 during her time at the Queens, NY. school. Louisville leads the all-time series 5-2 and Jeff Walz is 3-1 against St. John.

.

Game time is 7 p.m. Tuesday. This one will be a tough one for Louisville and may show how far the Cards have come from last year. Monique Reid and Keisha Hines both had good games against the Red Storm (if any one can have a good game on the short side of a 91-56 final) but will need to improve from the 31 turnovers that plagued the Cards' guards last year...(Harper, Burke, Story and Radde.)