Newsday (N.Y.): St. John's women lose to Stanford, 75-49
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
STANFORD, Calif. — It looked so good for the St. John's women when they led Stanford by eight points at about the midway point of the first half of their NCAA Tournament second-round game Monday night. Then it looked perfectly awful.
Practically before anyone could blink, and virtually before St. John's could get off any shot — let alone a good one — Stanford had outscored St. John's by 40 points. Not 4 . . . 40.
As in 55-15 — which turned an eight-point deficit into a 32-point lead.
With a huge second half, Stanford beat the Red Storm, 75-49. And No. 9 seed St. John's understood how the No. 2-ranked Cardinal could have stopped UConn's record 90-game winning streak in December.
It was the 63nd straight win for Stanford at Maples Pavilion and its 24th straight overall.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed," St. John's coach Kim Barnes Arico said, "but they're one of the best teams in the country. We were able to hang with them early, but we ran out of gas. They're an outstanding team."
They're also a bigger team. St. John's tried to jam the middle, and it worked for a while, as Storm led 22-14 with 9:45 left in the first half. But Stanford went outside and started hitting, and St. John's, inside or outside, started missing. And kept missing.
In the second half, St. John's was 5-for-24 from the field, and in one stretch, after trailing only 38-30 at intermission, was outscored 21-0. The Red Storm wound up falling behind by 32 points at 69-37.
"We sort of ran out of energy," St. John's Da'Shena Stevens said. "They hurt us inside. We went cold. We rushed things a little bit, which is what happens when you fall behind. We didn't get stops, so it was hard to get good shots."
Stanford's sister act from Cypress, Texas, made a difference, with junior Nnemkadi Ogwumike getting the points (22) and freshman Chiney Ogwumike getting the rebounds (12). Kayla Pedersen had 14 points, eight rebounds and five
assists.
Centhya Hart led the Red Storm with 15 points and Nadirah McKenith added 10. St. John's (22-11) had beaten Texas Tech on Saturday, but Stanford is one of the elite squads, with a history of NCAA titles and a 31-2 record this season.
St. John's goes home after a season that wasn't all that bad -- except for the final 30 minutes.
"We were just worn down trying to match up with them," Barnes Arico said, "but I'm proud of my team. They worked very hard."
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http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/college-basketball/st-john-s-women-lose-to-stanford-75-49-1.2774950
Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.
Special to Newsday
STANFORD, Calif. — It looked so good for the St. John's women when they led Stanford by eight points at about the midway point of the first half of their NCAA Tournament second-round game Monday night. Then it looked perfectly awful.
Practically before anyone could blink, and virtually before St. John's could get off any shot — let alone a good one — Stanford had outscored St. John's by 40 points. Not 4 . . . 40.
As in 55-15 — which turned an eight-point deficit into a 32-point lead.
With a huge second half, Stanford beat the Red Storm, 75-49. And No. 9 seed St. John's understood how the No. 2-ranked Cardinal could have stopped UConn's record 90-game winning streak in December.
It was the 63nd straight win for Stanford at Maples Pavilion and its 24th straight overall.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed," St. John's coach Kim Barnes Arico said, "but they're one of the best teams in the country. We were able to hang with them early, but we ran out of gas. They're an outstanding team."
They're also a bigger team. St. John's tried to jam the middle, and it worked for a while, as Storm led 22-14 with 9:45 left in the first half. But Stanford went outside and started hitting, and St. John's, inside or outside, started missing. And kept missing.
In the second half, St. John's was 5-for-24 from the field, and in one stretch, after trailing only 38-30 at intermission, was outscored 21-0. The Red Storm wound up falling behind by 32 points at 69-37.
"We sort of ran out of energy," St. John's Da'Shena Stevens said. "They hurt us inside. We went cold. We rushed things a little bit, which is what happens when you fall behind. We didn't get stops, so it was hard to get good shots."
Stanford's sister act from Cypress, Texas, made a difference, with junior Nnemkadi Ogwumike getting the points (22) and freshman Chiney Ogwumike getting the rebounds (12). Kayla Pedersen had 14 points, eight rebounds and five
assists.
Centhya Hart led the Red Storm with 15 points and Nadirah McKenith added 10. St. John's (22-11) had beaten Texas Tech on Saturday, but Stanford is one of the elite squads, with a history of NCAA titles and a 31-2 record this season.
St. John's goes home after a season that wasn't all that bad -- except for the final 30 minutes.
"We were just worn down trying to match up with them," Barnes Arico said, "but I'm proud of my team. They worked very hard."
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http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/college-basketball/st-john-s-women-lose-to-stanford-75-49-1.2774950
Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.