Shenneika Smith stepped to the line with seven seconds remaining, a topsy-turvy game – for the moment – in her hands. The St. John’s women’s basketball team trailed Syracuse, 65-64, and looked on as the freshman would decide its fate in a crucial Big East road game.

Standing on the St. John’s sideline, Red Storm head coach Kim Barnes Arico was anxious. But not because she was entrusting the game to a freshman.

‘When she went to the free-throw line that last time, I was a little concerned,’ Barnes Arico said after the game. ‘Because I knew that she had made them all prior to that. So I wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to bury (another) two.’

Smith calmed her coach’s nerves, coolly stepping to the line and continuing her perfect streak by sinking two free throws. After a desperation Syracuse play went awry, her two shots stood as the winning margin in the Red Storm’s 68-65 victory Wednesday night.

Smith, the Red Storm’s second-leading scorer, netted 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting in the win, making all eight of her free throws, including the deciding two. She also added four rebounds and two steals.

And her play was an even tougher pill to swallow for SU head coach Quentin Hillsman and the rest of the Orange. After Smith, the No. 7 recruit in the Class of 2009 according to Scout.com, almost joined the Orange last year, SU got its first up-close look at what could have been.

‘Shenneika played a monster game,’ Hillsman said. ‘She played at the rim, she made plays off the bounce and she’s a very good basketball player. There’s no doubt about that.’

After the game, Smith was asked how strongly she considered coming to Syracuse in the fall of 2008. She has a close relationship with SU point guard Tasha Harris, as the two played high school ball together at highly touted St. Michael Academy in New York City.

‘It was kind of close,’ Smith said. ‘One of my closest friends (Harris) goes here, so yeah, it was pretty close.’

Ultimately, though, she chose the Red Storm, becoming part of Barnes Arico’s 10th-ranked recruiting class last year, according to HoopGurlz.com.

For a freshman on the other side coming into the unfriendly confines of the Carrier Dome, Smith didn’t look the least bit intimidated. Barnes Arico figured that the presence of many of her close friends at Syracuse, including Harris, turned any nerves she might have had into even more motivation.

‘I think tonight was the stage for her,’ Barnes Arico said. ‘She came and played against a lot of her former teammates, and she wanted to show why she chose St. John’s and why she’s happy to be where she is.’

Spurred by that motivation, she gave the Orange’s defense fits throughout the night. Whether she was slicing through the lane and creating her own shot or pulling up and hitting jumper after jumper, SU couldn’t find a way to stop her.

She had 10 of her team’s 23 points at halftime, almost single-handedly keeping St. John’s in a game where the team trailed by one at the half.

‘She just took a lot of good shots,’ SU forward Vionca Murray said. ‘And she made a lot of them. She’s a good player.’

It all culminated in the game’s furious finish. With her team down 63-58, Smith converted a 3-point play to get the Red Storm within two.

Then, with 11 seconds left, St. John’s Nadirah McKenith took the ball out of Erica Morrow’s hands. Racing down the court, McKenith found Smith, who got fouled by Nicole Michael as she went up for a layup.

Michael was going to make Smith win the game the hard way. But, unfazed yet again, Smith made the hard way look easy in the manner she had done time after time in Wednesday’s contest.

‘It was a lot (of pressure),’ Smith said of her mindset before the free throws. ‘But I just tried to knock them down because I knew we really needed them.’

Calmly stepping to the line, she took the first shot. Swish. Tie game. Thrilled, yet focused, she prepared to take her second shot.

Swish.

‘She had ice in her veins tonight,’ Barnes Arico said. ‘That just shows you what kind of player she is.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on January 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm