Panthers let one slip away in loss to St. John’s

With 14 of a possible 16 Big East women’s basketball teams above .500 overall, it’s fair to… With 14 of a possible 16 Big East women’s basketball teams above .500 overall, it’s fair to say that if you don’t come to play, you might not want to come at all. Wednesday night in New York, Agnus Berenato and the Panthers found that out the hard way.

The Panthers (11-4 overall, 2-2 Big East) shot a horrid 29.5 percent from the field and an evenly terrible 57.7 percent from the free-throw line as they watched a close game turn into a 72-55 defeat at the hands of the St. John’s Red Storm.

“It was a game where it was tied six times, with nine lead changes and it was really a battle,” Berenato said after a loss that dropped her team into fourth place in the conference. “They made their free throws and we missed ours. They really out-rebounded us and we didn’t have the athleticism.”

Despite losing the battle on the boards, 50-34, the Panthers were able to keep the game close. They fell behind from the start, as neither of their two leading scorers were able to get loose. Guard Mallorie Winn finished the night with just seven points, on 2-of-10 shooting, while Marcedes Walker finished with 14 points, but only by hitting half of her 12 free-throw attempts.

“Marcedes was missing her shots inside and when she makes them, they have to double on her and then we can go outside,” Berenato said. “It was a bad night to have your two best players with off nights.”

The Panthers trailed by four at halftime and by as much as six early in the second half, but they were able to cut the lead to one on a three-point play by Walker. Freshman Xenia Stewart, who paced the Panthers with 17 points, then hit a jumper with just under nine minutes to go to give the Panthers a 45-44 lead, but it was short lived. The Red Storm (13-2, 3-1) scored the next seven points on their way to a game-ending 27-11 run to pick up their fourth straight win.

“There was a lack of leadership tonight. I feel like we conform to our environment, and tonight there was a dead environment,” Berenato said. “It’s hard to win on the road anywhere, but especially in the Big East.”

Early in the second half, the Panthers seemed to be their own worst enemy as they committed enough fouls to put the Red Storm into the bonus with more than 16 minutes to play in the game. St. John’s used that advantage to hit all of 20 second-half free-throw attempts, finishing the game a solid 26 of 30 from the line. The Panthers, on the other hand, finished 15 of 26 from the charity stripe.

The Red Storm also got 31 points from their bench, including Monique McLean’s 17 compared to the Panthers’ three points from their bench.

“That happens when you are really growing as a program,” Berenato said.

The brightest spot for the Panthers was the play of Stewart, who was praised after Sunday’s win over South Florida for her defense. This time, Stewart was the Panthers’ offensive pulse, registering the only three field goals for the Panthers in the final 10 minutes.

“She was really trying to make shots connect and I thought she really had a solid effort, and I didn’t think we got a solid effort from anyone else,” Berenato said. “She is really playing well. She is playing like an upperclassman.”

The Panthers are back in action on Saturday, as they will hold “Pack the Petersen” against the Providence Friars. All tickets for the game are $1 and tip-off is at 2 p.m.