Carnesseca Arena welcomed the Stony Brook Seawolves led by rookie head coach and former St. John’s Women’s Basketball captain Joy McCorvey on Nov. 24 for a mid-afternoon matchup.
The University honored McCorvey pregame with a video of her time with the program. The forward, who graduated in 2010, scored 580 points as a member of the Red Storm. It would not be an easy homecoming for the Seawolves coach as the Red Storm handed her group a 58-34 loss.
With junior Skye Owen (9 pts., 4 ast.) replacing an absent junior Tara Daye in the starting lineup for the second game in a row, the Johnnies started four players listed at 5’7” and below. This small ball lineup did not start the game well, allowing Stony Brook to jump out to an eight-point first-quarter lead while out-rebounding the Red Storm 17 to seven, leaving head coach Joe Tarmatella “disappointed.”
The second quarter proved much better for St. John’s both offensively and defensively. Owen led the mini-comeback for the Red Storm by assisting or scoring on 12 of the team’s 20 points in the period.
The Johnnies also abandoned their press and looked to settle in on defense. This adjustment from Tarmatella held the Seawolves to just eight points in the quarter. St. John’s led 29-25 at the end of the first half.
“We weren’t buying into being able to press the ball, so we kind of stopped doing that, which I thought was the biggest change,” Tartamella said postgame. “We were able to get back and defend because we were giving up high percentage shots because of our lack of effort in the press.”
The press has been something St. John’s relied heavily on through this unbeaten streak to start the season. Today, Tartamella showed his willingness to switch up strategies.
The Red Storm were shooting 1-12 from three-point range and had not made one trip to the free-throw line by halftime.
The second half started with a flurry of points from senior forward Phoenix Gedeon (8 pts.), and after eight unanswered points, Stony Brook called a timeout. The stoppage did not curb St. John’s momentum; they held the Seawolves to just six points in the third and extended their lead to 16. Inside scoring, coupled with a suffocating defense that forced six turnovers, was what the Johnnies needed to get a firm grasp on this game. The Red Storm would go into the fourth up 47-31.
The fourth quarter was dominated by St. John’s. Great defense completely stumped Stony Brook, as they only scored three points in the game’s final 10 minutes. The Johnnies coasted in the fourth to see out an important 24-point victory and improve to 6-0.
Despite the convincing victory, the Red Storm finished the game 2-21 from three and made no free throws. This shooting is uncharacteristic for St. John’s as they are averaging a Big East second-best 39.3% from beyond the arc and 80.0% from the line this season.
Through six games of play so far, the Red Storm continues to find ways to come out on top despite adversity.
“We’re ever-changing, so it’s hard to say what we really are yet,” Tartamella said. “We found different ways to win in terms of how we’ve had to play.”
Graduate guard Ber’Nyah Mayo and senior guard Lashae Dwyer led the way in scoring for St. John’s with 10 points each. Five other players chipped in with over five points.
“Once you have multiple people that can score the ball, it makes everything harder, and just, you never know whose night it will be,” Mayo said postgame.
The Red Storm will take on Harvard on Nov. 28 at Carnesecca Arena. The 7-1 Crimson will be a good test for St. John’s as they continue to get through non-conference play.
To access the final box score from the game, click here.
