Nov. 25, 2007

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

QUEENS, N.Y. - GALLERY

After starting off the 2007-08 season with three-straight road games, the St. John's women's basketball team finally opened up at home and made a statement with a 74-31 win over Dartmouth on Sunday afternoon in Carnesecca Arena.

The contest featured the best all-around showing of the short season for the Red Storm, who dominated in every statistical category. The ball was spread around and 12 players saw action in the contest.

St. John's shot 43.9 percent from the field, which was complimented by a 46.7 average from the three-point line. The Red Storm added 51 rebounds, five blocks and 13 steals to a stingy defensive effort that only allowed Dartmouth to shoot 25.5 percent. The Big Green's 31 points was the lowest the Red Storm has allowed since Dominican scored 28 on Nov. 19, 1979.

The Red Storm (3-1) took advantage of Dartmouth (0-4) mishandling the ball and came away with 25 points off turnovers, adding to the margin of victory that lifted the team to its biggest win since a 93-40 defeat of Providence on Feb. 2, 2005.

Junior Kelly McManmon paced the way offensively, setting a new personal best with 16 points in the game. She was 6-of-8 from the field, including a 4-for-6 performance from the three-point arc. Joy McCorvey was the only other player to score in double figures for St. John's with 10, while five other players chipped in five points or more.

On the boards, all but one player tallied a rebound in the game. Recee Mitchell led the team with 10, which is a new career-best. In addition, she also came close to tallying her first double-double with nine points.

With the game tied 6-6 at the 13:55 mark in the opening half, St. John's pulled away from the Big Green for the last time when it scored 12 unanswered points to jump ahead18-6. The Red Storm cruised the rest of the way and ended the half ahead by 18, 33-15.

After shooting 38.9 from the field in the first half, the Red Storm offense continued to build momentum and put up 41 points in the second half while hitting 50 percent of its shots. Leading by 34 at the 10:58 mark, St. John's scored two of its 17 fast break points when Mitchell ran up the court and used a bounce pass to feed the ball to Kristin Moore who nailed a jumper.

The Red Storm will look to continue its winning momentum when it hits the road to face Monmouth on Wednesday at 7 p.m.