Panthers prepare to face Big East rival St. John’s

Recently, the St. John’s women’s basketball team captured its first Big East win of the… Recently, the St. John’s women’s basketball team captured its first Big East win of the season. Considering conference play only began earlier in the month, this does not seem that awful.

But it has been struggling in the conference ever since and a second Big East victory has yet to occur.

That first Big East victory, which was a 67-62 upset over Providence, snapped a 24-game losing streak for St. John’s in conference play. The last win prior to this came early in the 2000-2001 season.

With new coach Kim Barnes Amico, who is in her first season with the Red Storm, things, however, may possibly be turning around for their program.

St. John’s, which is 7-12 overall and 1-7 in the conference, travels to Pittsburgh tomorrow afternoon to face the Panthers.

The Panthers defeated the Red Storm, 75-51, in a game earlier this season at St. John’s.

Though the Panthers have an impressive 7-3 home record and slightly better statistics, a sweep over the Red Storm will not be so simple.

Pitt (10-8, 2-5) will have its hands full tomorrow trying to shut down a trio of guards who put up a significant amount of points for St. John’s. Danielle Rainey, Reka Szavuly and Shemika Stevens have been major contributors to the Red Storm offense and will probably be a major focus of the Panthers.

Stevens had a team-high 12 points in the last meeting with the Panthers.

Rainey, on the other hand, is 12th in the Big East in scoring and Szavuly is among the league’s top three-point shooters.

The Panthers have quite an offensive attack as well. Sophomore guard Haley Harguth knocked down five-of-eight three-pointers in the win against St. John’s earlier this month and totaled 20 points in the game.

Also hot for the Panthers are guards Laine Selwyn and Brooke Stewart, who combined to put up 41 points in their most recent win over Georgetown. Both players are a threat from behind the arc.

Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center and the game looks to be a good one as the two teams each search for a well-needed win in the wide open Big East Conference.