WBB weekend wrap
St. John's guard Eugeneia McPherson (22) defends as Oklahoma guard Sharane Campbell (24) shoots in the first half. (March 20, 2012) Credit: AP
It was a mixed bag for St. John’s this weekend, as the squad split its first two games of the season at the WBI Tip-Off Classic in Daytona Beach. The Red Storm fell to Texas on Saturday, but was without senior guard Shenneika Smith who sat out the game due to a NCAA suspension.
Smith returned to the lineup on Sunday with a lot of fire and led the Red Storm with 23 points and 12 rebounds in a 72-54 win over the University of Central Florida. More importantly for the Red Storm, Joe Tartamella picked up his first win as coach.
Other good news for St. John’s was the play of Briana Brown. The junior guard had 11 points and 10 rebounds. It was the second straight double double for Brown, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday’s loss to Texas.
The Pride received a promising effort from freshman guard Asia Jackson who scored 21 points over the two games. Annie Payton also delivered for the Pride, scoring 17 points in Friday’s win over Stetson.
Losing to Texas was definitely a downer for the Pride, but they did come away with a win from the WBI Tip-Off.
The Seawolves struggled offensively last season. Although those struggles seemed to have carried over, Stony Brook came away with the win this time. It’s going to be an uphill climb for Stony Brook, but they’ll be competitive as long as they continue to play tough defense. The Seawolves forced 21 turnovers and outrebounded Navy 36-26.
Perhaps the biggest positive for Stony Brook is that Proctor reached double figures in both games. The sophomore guard had 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting against Rider.
