McPherson nets her 1000th as SJU rolls

St. John’s fifth-year senior Eugeneia McPherson made a bit of history on Saturday afternoon, scoring the 1000th point of her career in the Red Storm’s 69-48 win at Seton Hall in a women’s Big East game.

The North Babylon graduate becomes the 20th women in program history to reach the milestone. McPherson reached the number on a foul shot with 1:53 left in the second half.

It was the eighth straight win for the Red Storm (16-5, 9-1), which featured four players in double figures. Danaejah Grant had 14 points and six rebonds, Jade Walker added 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, while Aliyyah Hanford and Briana Brown each chipped in 12.

In addition to a balanced scoring attack, St. John’s put forth a stellar defensive effort, holding the Pirates (13-7, 4-5) without a three-pointer (0-12) and outscoring their bench 31-0. St. John’s pitched a shutout from the three-point line in a win over Cincinnati (0-6) last year.   

“This was a hard-fought battle throughout the entire game,” St. John’s coach Joe Tartamella said. “I thought we did a great job in the second half of really executing offensively, which I thought was the difference today, but also of keeping a very good rebounding team off the glass. We’re very pleased with the way we were able to close the game.”

St. John’s holds a one-game lead over second-place DePaul, a 74-63 winner over Providence on Saturday.