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SJU women’s b-ball welcomes new blood

SJU women’s b-ball welcomes new blood
By Joseph Staszewski

The best season in program history isn’t enough for this group of St. John’s seniors. The legacy of Shenneika Smith, Nadirah McKenith and Eugenia McPherson as the most successful group in the history of Red Storm women’s basketball has one final chapter, one they hope to make better than all the rest.

“We are making St. John’s history,” McPherson, a senior guard, said. “We are proud of that. We are proud to be a part of that, but for our senior year it’s more than making the [NCAA] tournament.”

She said the team has unfinished business after the program’s first berth in the Sweet Sixteen, a second-place finish in the Big East during the regular season and road wins over UConn and Oklahoma. St. John’s is picked to finish fourth in the conference and enters the year nationally ranked. The team, which returns four starters, wants to bring an NCAA tournament game to Queens.

“We can’t let that get to our heads just because we are preseason ranked,” McKenith, the point guard, said. “That can easily go away in the middle of the season if we don’t go out there and play to the best of our abilities.”

The guy whose job it is to make sure that happens is first-year head Coach Joe Tartamella. The long-time assistant helped former Coach Kim Barnes Arico, now at Michigan, helped build the program up from obscurity. The players, all of whom he recruited, were relieved when Tartamella, 32, was given the job. The connection he has with this bunch of plays has made the transition easy.

“This group of seniors has a special place in my heart and the program’s heart,” he said. “They have taken us to new levels.”

The graduation of forward Da’Shena Stevens has left Smith as the program’s premier talent. The All-Big East selection hit the season’s biggest shot, a game-winning three-pointer to snap UConn’s 99-game winning streak.

St. John’s also returns its front line of sophomore Amber Thompson and junior Mary Nwachukwu to complement its backcourt. Continued contributions are expected from reserves Briana Brown and Keylantra Langley.

“I think we have the deepest team than we’ve ever had,” Tartamela said. “We don’t have that drop off.”

He wants the same for the program as he looks to build off the success of recent years. Plenty of returning talent has St. John’s believing it can do just that.

“We are just going to try to get back to the tournament and get another step further,” Smith said.

Reach reporter Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@cnglocal.com. Follow him on twitter @cng_staszewski.