UConn gets some payback, routs St. John's women
St. John's Nadirah McKenith drives past Connecticut's Brianna Banks during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Big East women's tournament in Hartford, Conn. (March 5, 2012) Credit: AP
HARTFORD -- St. John's women's basketball team shocked the world last month with a historic win on Connecticut's home court.
Monday night, UConn delivered some payback in a big way.
A day after outlasting Louisville in overtime, second-seeded St. John's lost to third-seeded Connecticut, 74-43, in a Big East Tournament semifinal at XL Center.
"I knew it was going to be a difficult task for us," St. John's coach Kim Barnes Arico said, "but I thought we would have played a little bit better. If they take off on you, it's hard to recover."
In Tuesday night's Big East championship game, UConn will face top-seeded Notre Dame, which beat the Huskies twice during the regular season.
Stefanie Dolson, UConn's 6-5 center, shot 10-for-12 and scored 23 points. Big East Freshman of the Year Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had 22.
"It's one of the better and more complete games we've played in a long time," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "And to beat a really good team like St. John's, it feels really good."
North Babylon's Bria Hartley sparked UConn's early surge, scoring 10 of her 11 points to help the Huskies take a 38-18 halftime lead. "When we play like that, you can tell it's Connecticut basketball," she said.
The Red Storm is a lock to make the NCAA Tournament, but Monday night's loss still was a tough one. "I just tried to talk to them a little bit in the hallway," Barnes Arico said. "I know tonight was frustrating. And I think they were embarrassed because they really weren't playing well and they had played so well leading up to this. But tomorrow's a new day, and what they've been able to accomplish this year has been incredible."
Nadirah McKenith's 10 points led St. John's, which shot 15-for-51 from the field (29.4 percent). The Red Storm was 0-for-6 on three-pointers.
UConn's full-court pressure from the opening tip took its toll. "We didn't come out as aggressive or play as we normally do," McKenith said. " . . .We never recuperated from the beginning of the game."
Looking flat and frustrated from the onset, the Red Storm, which had 20 turnovers, struggled to settle into a rhythm at either end of the court. The Huskies clogged the paint and effectively took away St. John's inside game, forcing the Red Storm to settle for perimeter shots. St. John's missed 20 of 27 shots in the first half, including three three-pointers.
UConn shot 43.8 percent (14-for-32) and scored 13 points off 12 first-half turnovers by St. John's to build its 20-point lead at the break.
The Huskies had been itching for payback ever since then-unranked St. John's upset UConn, 57-56, at Gampel Pavilion on Shenneika Smith's three-pointer with eight seconds left. Smith scored four points Monday night.
St. John's win in Storrs ended the Huskies' home winning streak at 99 games. It marked UConn's first home loss to an unranked opponent in almost 19 years.
