St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
5-0
Wagner
0-5
St. John's Downs Wagner, 71-49
11/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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| Video Highlights | Postgame Press Conference
QUEENS, N.Y. - The Red Storm cruised to victory on Sunday afternoon, leading wire-to-wire and securing the best start in the Joe Tartamella era with a 71-49 victory over Wagner in Carnesecca Arena.
"I'm happy with our performance in a number of areas. I thought this was a better team win for us as far as how we played for a forty-minute span than we did the other day," said head coach Joe Tartamella. "We had improvements in a number of areas and were able to go to our bench today, which was great for us. Getting 14 points from them is a step in the right direction for us from the past games. This was an important game from the standpoint that it was a Friday-Sunday doubleheader like we are going to play in the BIG EAST. We wanted to prepare ourselves and give us an opportunity to get in that rhythm. Now we turn the page and have our first BIG EAST game on Wednesday against Xavier, who is a very, very good team. "
Aliyyah Handford led the Red Storm on the score sheet, tallying 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting and pulling down eight rebounds.
Amber Thompson recorded her first double-double of the year, scoring a season-high 14 points and pulling down 10 boards. The senior from Newark, N.J., who ranks in the top ten nationally on the glass, now has at least 10 rebounds in each of her five games this season.
Danaejah Grant narrowly missed her first double-double of the year, recording 14 points and nine rebounds in just 25 minutes of action.
Aaliyah Lewis continued to excel as the team's floor general, dishing out five assists and surrendering only one turnover. The Staten Island, N.Y., native also poured in six points and picked up a pair of steals.
Three members of the Red Storm scored the first points of their collegiate careers on Sunday: Crystal Simmons, Tonoia Wade and Tamesha Alexander.
As a team, the Red Storm was lights out from the floor, shooting 51 percent on the game. It was the Red Storm's first time shooting over 50 percent from the floor since Feb. 1, 2014 against Seton Hall.
St. John's controlled the contest from the outset, scoring the game's first 12 points over the course of four and a half minutes. Handford paced the Red Storm with six points during that stretch, boosted by field goals from Jade Walker, Grant and Thompson.
After the Seahawks converted on a three to get on the board five minutes into the contest, the Red Storm rattled off five more unanswered on a three-pointer from Lewis and another field goal from Handford to build its lead to 14, 17-3, near the 14 minute mark of the half.
Lyndsay Rowe soon converted on her second triple of the game to narrow the gap to 11, 17-6. From there, the Red Storm's smothering defense helped ignite a 15-2 run in favor of the home team, capped off by a Kyra Dunn free throw with 5:38 remaining until the intermission.
Over the final 13:08 of the opening half, the Red Storm outscored the Seahawks 20-8, taking a 37-16 lead into the locker room.
Thompson recorded the first four points on the second half, reaching double-digit for the first time this season.
Wagner would narrow the lead to as little as 20 near the midway point of the half, but Simmons scored the first five points of her career to help keep the Seahawks at bay. The Madrid, Spain, native sank a three before swiping an inbounds pass and converting on the layup.
With a young lineup on the court, the Red Storm saw its leads shrink to as little as 17, 58-41, with under seven minutes to go. Coach Tartamella soon sent several starters back into the contest and the veterans scored four in a row to put the Red Storm up by 21.
The Red Storm would lead by as many as 27 following the first points of Tamesha Alexander's career with just over two minutes remaining before closing out the contest, 71-49.
