St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
14-4, 5-2BE
Marquette
4-14, 0-7BE
Red Storm Rolls Past Marquette, 67-52
1/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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QUEENS, N.Y. - Led by a 14-point second half effort from Aliyyah Handford on six-of-seven shooting from the floor, St. John's outscored Marquette 37-24 in the latter stanza, propelling the Red Storm to a 67-52 victory over the Golden Eagles on Sunday afternoon in Carnesecca Arena.
"I was very happy with our second half," said Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "We came out a little flat in the first half. It's tough playing two games in three days. We were able to hold our ground in the second half and play a much better offensive game. We did a nice job rebounding and converting from the free throw line today. 14 assists is a good number to have on the stat sheet. Our effort and focus were much better in the second half."
With the win, the Red Storm improved to 14-4 on the season and 5-2 in BIG EAST play. The Golden Eagles fell to 4-14 on the year with an 0-7 mark against league opponents.
Handford showed why she's one of the nation's most prolific scorers in the nation against the Golden Eagles, pouring in 25 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the floor. The Newark, N.J., native has now tallied 20-plus points in five straight contests and eight of her last nine.
Danaejah Grant tallied her second double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and tying a career-high with 11 rebounds. The Piscataway, N.J., native also set a new career-high in assists, dishing out six helpers on the afternoon.
Amber Thompson, who entered the game as nation's fourth-best rebounder at 12 per game, pulled down eight boards for the Red Storm and set a career-high with seven blocks.
Jade Walker also reached double figures for the Red Storm, converting on four of her nine shot attempts and tallying 10 points in just 20 minutes of action.
Tonoia Wade played a season-high 20 minutes against the Golden Eagles, registering four points and five rebounds.
The Red Storm put forth one of its best efforts of the season from the free throw line, converting on 16 of its 20 attempts from the charity stripe. Coach Tartamella's squad also outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 42-36.
Marquette looked to be in control early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after converting on its first two attempts from the floor. The Red Storm, however, wasted no time answering the Golden Eagle's charge, responding with six unanswered of its own and taking a 6-4 lead after a Handford free throw with just over three minutes gone in the contest.
The Golden Eagles outscored the Red Storm 9-4 over the next few minutes, moving ahead 13-10 on a Kenisha Bell jumper near the 15-minute mark of the opening half.
From there, six in-a-row from Walker helped the Red Storm regain the lead, as the sophomore sparked an 8-0 run that resulted in St. John's taking an 18-13 advantage with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half.
Marquette would tie the contest once again at 20 a few minutes later, but the Red Storm responded with another run, this time scoring six unanswered and taking a 26-20 lead with just over five minutes left until the intermission.
Over the remaining minutes of the half, the Red Storm went cold from the field, netting just four points on free throws from Wade and Kyra Dunn, allowing Marquette to pull within two, 30-28, heading into the locker room.
The Red Storm had no trouble scoring to start the second half, opening the latter stanza on a 9-2 run and moving ahead 39-30 with just over four minutes gone.
Marquette would narrow the deficit to as little as four, 40-36, on an Arlesia Morse free throw two minutes later, but the Red Storm soon bolstered lead once again. Led by seven points from Handford, St. John's outscored the Golden Eagles 15-6 over the next few minutes , moving ahead by 13, 55-42, with just under seven minutes go.
The Red Storm showed no let up on either end of the court in the closing minutes, keeping the Golden Eagles at bay by at least double digits for the remainder of the contest before closing out the game, 67-52.
The Red Storm hit the road for three games away from the friendly confines of Carnesecca Arena over the next two weeks, beginning with a Friday night game at Georgetown.
