Johnnies run out of magic
FRESNO, Calif. — For the St. John’s women’s basketball team, this was a season of historic wins and magical finishes.
The Red Storm pulled off the stunner of the year with a 57-56 upset at Connecticut on Feb. 18 that ended the Huskies’ 99-game home winning streak in Storrs — then won its first- and secondround NCAA games by a combined six points, including Nadirah Mckenith’s coast-to-coast layup with 0.1 seconds remaining to beat Creighton in the first round.
But Saturday night in the Fresno Regional semis against Duke, SJU’S season came to an end.
The second-seeded Blue Devils rode Shay Selby, their lone senior starter who scored 18 points, to move within a victory of the program’s first Final Four since 2006 with a 74-47 rout of No. 3 seed St. John’s.
Da’shena Stevens scored 19 points in her final game for St. John’s (24-10), which shot 34.5% overall and 29% in the second half. The Red Storm didn’t have another player with more than six points as their stirring March run ended in frustrating fashion as first-timers in the regional semifinals.
“It’s been the best season in our program’s history,” coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “But it’s tough when you don’t win the championship and you end on a losing note.”
Early in the first half, Stevens overmatched 6-foot-3 Duke center Haley Peters and scored 10 straight points during one stretch, but Duke switched to a zone to fluster St. John’s with height on the perimeter.
Stevens picked up her second foul at the 13:18 mark and sat down for nearly five minutes, and the Red Storm had a much tougher time pounding the ball inside with her on the bench.
Duke (25-5) used a 16-0 run spanning halftime to take control, and only built on that momentum the rest of the way. The Blue Devils will play the winner of Saturday’s late game between top-seeded Stanford and No. 5 South Carolina on Monday night for a trip to Denver and the Final Four.
BAYLOR 83, GEORGIA TECH 68: Brittney Griner capped a sensational performance with a two-handed dunk and the Lady Bears stormed into the regional finals for the third straight year with a rout in Des Moines, Iowa.
Top-seeded Baylor (37-0) will play second-seeded Tennessee in the regional final on Monday night, the winner advancing to the Final Four.
TENNESSEE 84, KANSAS 73: Sophomore Meighan Simmons scored 16 of her 22 points off the bench in the second half and the Lady Vols (27-8) rallied past the Jayhawks (21-13) in Des Moines.