St. John’s freshman Shenneika Smith (l.) helped hold UConn star Maya Moore to her lowest point total of the season (12). (AP)
Their name is the Red Storm, they hail from Queens and they might be New York City’s last chance at March Madness.
No, it isn’t the St. John’s men’s basketball team making noise nationally this season. It’s the school’s women’s squad that finds itself ranked No. 22 in the AP Poll – its highest honor in 26 years.
“We’re trying to make history a little bit,” freshman guard Shenneika Smith said.
The Red Storm are 20-5, are the third fastest team to 20 wins in program history and are in fifth place in the Big East, which means, barring a complete collapse, they should be in the NCAA tournament next month. St. John’s meets No. 4 Notre Dame on Tuesday night at Carnesecca Arena with a chance to make an even bigger national splash.
“You want to continue winning,” junior guard Sky Lindsay. “Now we’re top 25. More people are watching us, they’ve got their eyes on St. John’s. You want to make sure everyone knows that we deserve to be ranked top 25.”
The Red Storm’s biggest accomplishment might have actually come in a loss. On Saturday, St. John’s played No. 1 Connecticut as well as any team has this season. The Red Storm lost, 66-52, but it was the second smallest margin of victory for the Huskies this season after they beat No. 2 Stanford, 80-68, on Dec. 23.
St. John’s held UConn to season lows in points and field goal percentage (39.1). Prior to the game, UConn was averaging 84.2 points, outscoring its opponents by a margin of 39.1 points and shooting 52.7 percent from the field.
“I think the No. 1 thing, the reason why we’ve been able to be competitive with them the last couple years is that our kids are pretty confident,” coach Kim Barnes Arico said.
Call it that New York City swagger. Eight of the 12 players on the Red Storm roster are from the Tri-State area, including leading scorers Da’Shena Stevens of Connecticut and Smith, who hails from Brooklyn and played at Manhattan powerhouse St. Michael Academy.
“I used to be the only one,” joked Lindsay, a Brooklyn native who starred at Christ the King in Queens.
Recruiting the area was a major focus for Barnes Arico, a Long Island native, when she took over seven years ago. Her first team went 3-24 and was listed as the worst women’s basketball program in the country. Since then, St. John’s has gone 102-82 and earned its first NCAA tournament bid in nearly two decades in 2005-06.
The best might be yet to come. Stevens, a sophomore, was named Big East Rookie of the Year last season and the five freshmen were collectively ranked as one of the best recruiting classes in the country. The two players coming in next year – Connecticut natives Keylantra Langley and Briana Brown – are both ranked in the top 100 in their class by scouting services.
“It’s exciting, because every year we’re going to add some new players,” Stevens said. “To have a foundation, a group returning that’s strong and then adding a few pieces, it could just only get better. The sky is the limit for this team.”
The current freshmen are certainly getting it done. Smith is a do-it-all scorer, New Jersey native Nadirah McKenith (the Big East Rookie of the Week) is a pure point guard and Long Island’s Eugeneia McPherson brings toughness off the bench. Former Mary Louis star Amanda Burakoski and Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) center Jennifer Blanding, formerly of Boys & Girls HS in Brooklyn, round out the excellent class.
“All they know is winning,” Barnes Arico said. “They all come from great programs. They’re used to winning. But they’ve really surpassed my expectations.”
In their first season, they could be helping St. John’s to its best season ever.
“If we go down in history, that’s a plus,” Smith said. “But winning and going to the Dance is what our goal is.”