By Stephen Pinto
Not many games get decided with more than five minutes left in the first half, but it was that kind of night for St. John's.
With 5:35 left before halftime and the Red Storm women's basketball team fighting back from an early deficit, a most unlikely candidate tied the game up.
Tiina Sten got a pass behind the arc on the left baseline from Greeba Barlow and found herself wide open. As a reserve, she doesn't take many big shots. But she knew she needed to take this three. So the native of Finland arced it high and it fell — nothing but net.
The crowd of 1,163 (St. John's second highest total this season) erupted and her team never looked back.
“I had open shots,” Sten said. “I had to make [them].”
Sten (8 points) combined with Monique McLean (12) to provide St. John's with a boost off the bench in its 79-63 defeat of Louisville Wednesday night at Carnesecca Arena.
“I was really proud of the effort and intensity that we had tonight,” coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “The people coming off the bench gave some great contributions.”
The Red Storm began the game looking as sluggish as it did in its loss to Marquette Feb. 8, falling behind 21-12 to start the game.
However, after Sten's three-pointer that tied the game at 26, St. John's went on a 19-10 run to finish off the first half.
When asked about her teammates' contributions, Kia Wright said, “I'm not really surprised. Any day someone can step up and they did for us. I'm proud of them.”
In the second half, St. John's (19-5, 9-3 Big East) dominated deflated Louisville (16-7, 7-5).
“They came out and scored the first two baskets and instead of being down nine, we were down 14,” Louisville coach Tom Collen said. “My kids looked at the double-digit [deficit] and didn't believe any more.”
St. John's was up by as much as 20, after a three-pointer by Wright with 15:10 left.
The junior guard looked much better in the second half than before the break.
“Coach told me to be more aggressive,” Wright said. “So that's what I looked to do, even though [my shot] was off.”
The Red Storm played a tough, physical game that shut down the Cards' top players.
Jazz Covington is the Cardinals' top scorer with 13.5 points per game. She had only nine in Wednesday's game.
“Jazz [Covington] doesn't handle that well,” Collen said of St. John's physical play.
The win prevents St. John's from succumbing to its first two-game losing streak all year – it is 5-0 following losses.
“I felt like we lost five games in a row (after the Marquette game),” Barnes Arico said.
The team may have also been feeling the pressure of being a top-25 team after being ranked No. 23 and No. 25 over the past two weeks. The Red Storm fell out of a ranking in this week's Associated Press poll.
When asked about being dropped out, however, Barnes Arico seemed more relieved then upset.
“When all that stuff was happening,” the coach said, “it became our focus and that's what we were thinking about instead of the basketball that got us to that point.”
She added: “What got us to this point? What got us to 19-5? Working hard, defending, doing the little things.”
And it's what should get them to the NCAA Tournament.
