St. John's and Cal have only met once in women's basketball action, in 1983. The Red Storm prevailed in that game, 81-62. It was played on Dec. 29 at the Queens Holiday Festival on the campus of Queens College.
BARNES ARICO: BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR
• Fourth-year Red Storm head coach Kim Barnes Arico was named the BIG EAST's Coach of the Year, the league announced at the conference tournament banquet. It was the first honor for Barnes Arico and she became just the third Red Storm women's basketball coach to receive the award.
• Barnes Arico earned the distinction after leading St. John's to an impressive 21-7 overall record, 11-5 league mark and fourth-place finish in the conference after being picked to finish eighth.
•She led St. John's to its first national ranking in more than 20 years as the Red Storm was ranked as high as No. 23 in the Associated Press poll. Barnes Arico has orchestrated the program's turnaround, as her teams have improved their record in each of her four seasons.
MORE RED STORM HONORS
• Kia Wright and Angela Clark were named to the All-BIG EAST First Team. The former high school teammates lead the Red Storm in scoring at over 14.0 ppg each.
NOTING THE RED STORM
• Last Outing ... St. John's was defeated by West Virginia, 55-49, in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament in Hartford, Conn., on Sunday, March 5. Kia Wright and Angela Clark scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the Red Storm.
• Back-To-Back 20-Win Seasons ... St. John's has posted consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since a string of four-straight from 1980-84. The Red Storm finished the regular season with an impressive 21-6 mark and 11-5 league record before falling to the Mountaineers in the conference tournament.
• Better Than That ... After being picked to finish eighth in the new-look, 16-team BIG EAST in the preseason coaches' poll, the Red Storm finished tied for third with an 11-5 mark.
• Receiving Votes ... St. John's continued to receive votes in the March 13 Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls.
• 11 BIG Wins ... St. John's 11 BIG EAST victories eclipsed last year's total of seven. The last time a St. John's team finished with 11 conference victories was 1984-85 (that team also finished 11-5 in the league).
• Playing The Best ... Four of seven St. John's losses have come at the hands of opponents ranked in the nation's Top 20 (then-No. 2/2 Duke on Dec. 28, then-No. 7/7 Connecticut on Jan. 14, then-No. 9/9 Rutgers on Feb. 2 and then-No. 16/15 DePaul on Feb. 18).
• No Place Like Home ... As it wrapped up play in Carnesecca Arena, St. John's continued to protect its homecourt. The Red Storm finished an impressive 11-1 at home this year (9-1 at Carnesecca Arena; 2-0 at Madison Square Garden).
• Wright Time ... First Team All-BIG EAST point guard Kia Wright came on strong for St. John's as it stormed into the postseason, and was the team's leading scorer for the 11th time against West Virginia (March 5) with 14 points. In her last five games of the regular-season, Wright averaged 17.8 points and 4.6 assists per game. The junior standout has scored in double figures in 24 out of 28 games and averages 14.1 points per game for the Red Storm. A preseason All-BIG EAST selection, Wright was named to the league's weekly honor roll twice this year. Not just an offensive weapon but a valuable asset on defense, Wright currently ranks second in the BIG EAST with 2.50 steals per game.
• To read a feature story on Kia Wright click here.
• Clark Continues To Chase History ... Former Copiague High School teammate of Wright and 6-1 junior forward Angela Clark continues to rank second on the team with 14.0 points per game and had a typically solid outing vs. West Virginia (March 5) with 12 points and six boards. In BIG EAST games, Clark averaged 13.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. For her efforts, she was named to the conference's weekly honor roll three times. She recently broke into St. John's Top-10 for scoring (1,096 points) and could become the first-ever Red Storm player to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for her career.
• Chambers' World ... Senior Danielle Chambers is making her case for the title of one of the most improved players in the league, as the forward is close to averaging a double-double with 8.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Relentless on the boards and a great finisher around the rim, she was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Roger and Mildred White Invitational (Dec. 2-3) and is third on the team in minutes played (30.4 per game). In her last outing, Chambers had eight rebounds and five points.
• T Dub(le) Digits ... Senior guard Tara Walker stepped up her game in the second half of the season and is now the third-leading scorer for St. John's. Her clutch performance at DePaul (Feb. 18) helped the Red Storm come back from a 12-point second-half deficit, and she had a 15-point effort on Senior Night vs. Seton Hall (Feb. 28). In conference games, Walker averaged 10.2 points per game and shot better 49 percent from behind the 3-point line. For her effort in the last week of the regular-season, Walker was named to the Feb. 27 BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
• Raising The Bar ... Another senior, sharpshooter Greeba Barlow, has steadily improved as her minutes have increased this season. Particularly effective on the big stage, Barlow scored in double figures in both of St. John's games at Madison Square Garden and averaged double figures (10.3 ppg) in BIG EAST games. Recently, Barlow dropped 17 points on Seton Hall (Feb. 28) in her last home game in a Red Storm jersey.
• Up Next ... A victory would give St. John's a second-round appearance at the Bryce Jordan Center. The winner of No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 15 Sacred Heart would be the Red Storm's opponent.
BETTER EVERY YEAR
• St. John's won 11 conference games this season, continuing head coach Kim Barnes Arico's streak of besting the previous year's total. Here is a breakdown of the Red Storm's improvement under the fourth-year mentor:
Year Overall Record Conference Record
2002-03 8-19 2-14
2003-04 10-18 4-12
2004-05 20-11 7-9
2005-06 21-7 11-5
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
• Owner of a 21-7 record, the Red Storm is receiving votes in the March 13 Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls.
• The Red Storm cracked the Associated Press Top 25 on Jan. 30, debuting at No. 25. It was the first national ranking for a St. John's women's basketball team since the week of Feb. 5, 1984. The next day when the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll was released, the Red Storm was also ranked No. 25 by that poll.
• It has been a steady build for the Red Storm as it first received votes after getting off to a 7-0 start on Dec. 6.
BIG STAGE; BIG WINS
• St. John's improved to 3-0 all-time at Madison Square Garden with its Jan. 29 victory over West Virginia. A week earlier, the Red storm topped Villanova at The Garden on Jan. 21.
• The Red Storm snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series with the Wildcats and gave head coach Kim Barnes Arico her first-career win over Villanova. It was more of the same against the Mountaineers, as St. John's beat them for the first time in seven tries.
100 GAMES LATER
• Fourth-year head coach Kim Barnes Arico coached her 100th game with the Red Storm on Jan. 7 against Georgetown. With the 74-54 victory, she evened her overall record at St. John's to 50-50.
• She recently hit another milestone with her 150th career victory on Feb. 5 with an 87-81 victory over South Florida.
• Her record is now 59-55 at St. John's, 153-127 overall.
CLARK JOINS 1,000 POINT CLUB
• Angela Clark scored 19 points, including the 1,000th of her career on Jan. 29 vs. West Virginia at Madison Square Garden. The junior has amassed 1,096 points so far in her three-year career.
• She became the 14th player in St. John's women's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau and could, before her four-year career ends, become the first woman in school history to notch both 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
PROTECTING THE HOUSE
• Head coach Kim Barnes Arico has brought home court advantage back to St. John's. This year, the Red Storm holds an impressive 11-1 record at home (9-1 at Carnesecca Arena; 2-0 at Madison Square Garden). Last season, St. John's posted a winning season at home (7-4) for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
LOCAL TIES
• One of head coach Kim Barnes Arico's goals when taking over the Red Storm program was to keep the top players from New York close to home at St. John's. Three seasons later, her philosophy continues, as six out of 11 players on the roster are from the Empire State.
• High school teammates Angela Clark and Kia Wright hail from Copiague, Long Island, while freshman Lisa Claxton is from Hempstead, Long Island. Seniors Mercedes Dukes and Danielle Chambers are from the Bronx and Brooklyn, respectively, while senior Dana Petersen is a Staten Island native.
• Born in Mastic Beach, N.Y., Barnes Arico is also a native New Yorker and has coached in or near the state during her entire career. She has moved up the coaching ranks from New Jersey's Fairleigh Dickinson-Madison and NJIT and out to Long Island at Adelphi University before making the move to Queens to take the reins of St. John's.
RED STORM IN THE RANKINGS
• St. John's has put up impressive numbers in its 28 games, particularly in the rebounding categories. The Red Storm ranks third for rebounding offense (40.5), fourth for rebounding defense (33.6), second for rebounding margin (+6.9) and third for offensive rebounds (15.32 per game).
• St. John's has out-rebounded its opponent in 19 of its 21 victories this season.
• The team's offense is the third-highest scoring in the conference at 70.7 points per game, behind only DePaul (76.2) and Connecticut (72.7).
• St. John's dynamic post players Danielle Chambers and Angela Clark rank third and fifth for rebounding with 9.1 and 8.5 boards per game, respectively. Clark ranks 12th in the BIG EAST for scoring (14.0 ppg).
• Kia Wright is 11th for scoring (14.1 ppg), sixth for assists (4.3 apg), second for steals (2.50 spg) and is the league's second-best free throw shooter (87.2 percent).
A LOOK AT CALIFORNIA
• The Bears have an overall record of 18-11 (10-8 PAC-10) after being defeated by UCLA, 80-63, in their conference tournament.
• Devanei Hampton is Cal's leading scorer at 15.4 points per game, followed by Alexis Gray-Lawson at 14.5 ppg and Ashley Walker at 13.0.
• St. John's and Cal have only met once in women's basketball action, in 1983. The Red Storm prevailed in that game, 81-62. It was played on Dec. 29 at the Queens Holiday Festival on the campus of Queens College.
• California's head coach is Joanne Boyle and she is in her first season.
EMAIL STRAIGHT TO YOU
• If you would like the latest St. John's women's basketball news emailed to you directly as soon as it breaks, email women's basketball contact Amy Mulligan at mulligaa@stjohns.edu with "Basketball Email" as the subject and you will receive every update distributed on the team.
