May 10, 2005

Queens, NY, Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - St. John's University women's basketball head coach Kim Barnes Arico was named the 2004-05 Basketball Coaches Association of New York Division I Women's Coach of the Year, it was announced by the organization last week.

Barnes Arico, who just completed her third season at St. John's, earns the honor after leading the Red Storm to their first 20-win season and their first postseason berth in 17 years. St. John's finished the season with a 20-11 overall record and advanced to the second round of both the BIG EAST Tournament and the WNIT Postseason Tournament.

Under her guidance, St. John's opened the season with a perfect 11-0 mark in non-conference play and received national recognition with votes in both the Associated Press and the coach's polls. The Red Storm finished eighth in the league after picking up seven conference wins, including an upset over then No. 16 Boston College on February 5.

Since taking over the program in 2002, Barnes Arico has produced a remarkable turnaround, culminating in this year's postseason berth. In just her first season, Barnes Arico took a team that went 3-24 overall and 0-16 in the BIG EAST and turned them into an 8-19 team that won its first BIG EAST contest in two years.

Barnes Arico's second-year squad took the court in 2003-04 and achieved their goals with four conference wins and a berth in the BIG EAST tournament as the No. 11 seed. Her team was in every game, giving some of the nation's top teams a 40-minute battle, and gained the respect of the media and each opponent they faced.

This season, the Red Storm set a record for the best-start in women's basketball history at St. John's and knocked off several top opponents during the season. In December, the Red Storm beat ACC power Georgia Tech at the newly renamed Carnesecca Arena and went on to beat BIG EAST foes Seton Hall, Syracuse and Pittsburgh, and made headlines with their convincing win over the Eagles.

This award is Barnes Arico's third Coach of the Year Award in her career. She was previously named the NYCAC Coach of the Year after leading Adelphi University to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II Tournament and was named New Jersey Coach of the Year while serving as the head coach at NJIT in 1998. Hofstra University's Tom Pecora was named the 2004-05 Basketball Coaches Association of New York Division I Men's Coach of the Year.

For the most up-to-date information and statistics on St. John's Athletics, please visit www.RedStormSports.com, or call our hotline at 1-888-GO-STORM.