St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
(15-5, 6-3BE)
Villanova
(12-9, 6-3BE)
Villanova's Hot Hand Downs St. John's, 81-69
1/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Despite facing a St. John's squad that ranks in the top 25 nationally in both points allowed and field goal percentage defense, Villanova converted on 61 percent of its tries from the floor and 50 percent of its attempts from deep, downing the Red Storm 81-69 on Sunday afternoon.
"I thought Villanova played as well as I've seen them all year," said St. John' s Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "We were unable to slow them down offensively, which has been something our team has prided itself on against opponents all year. Coyer was tremendous for them. We have to get back to work this week as we prepare for another opportunity on the road this upcoming Sunday."
Danaejah Grant paced the Red Storm with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting, leading a St. John's team that shot 54 percent from the floor overall. The effort marked the third time in the last four contests that St. John's has shot 50 percent or better from the field.
Aliyyah Handford added 19 points for the Red Storm, as the Newark, N.J., native fell one-point shy of reaching the 20-point plateau for the seventh-consecutive game.
Jade Walker also reached double figures for St. John's on Sunday afternoon, knocking down six of her 11 shot attempts for 12 points.
Amber Thompson and Aaliyah Lewis narrowly missed double figures for the Red Storm, as both players finished the game with eight points. Thompson added seven rebounds in the loss, while Lewis chipped in three assists.
Villanova's Caroline Coyer had a career day to lead the Wildcats, going 6-of-10 from beyond the arc en route to a 28-point finish.
The Wildcats found it tough to miss early, converting on three of their first five attempts from the floor and jumping out to a 7-2 lead less than three minutes into the contest. The Red Storm, however, responded quickly, as Handford and Walker combined for an 8-2 scoring run to give St. John's its first lead of the game, 10-9, with just over 13 minutes to go in the opening half.
From there, Villanova outscored St. John's 8-2 over the next three minutes of action, opening up a five-point lead near the midway mark of the period. Then, on consecutive possessions, Lewis nailed a right-wing triple and Grant tallied three the old-fashioned way, putting the Red Storm back ahead by one, 22-21, with 8:36 left on the clock.
The two squads traded leads over the next few possessions, but a pair of three-pointers form Caroline Coyer helped spark an 8-0 run for the Wildcats, giving Villanova a 33-26 lead with just under five minutes left until the break.
After trailing by as many as eight, the Red Storm narrowed the lead to four, 39-35, with just over a minute to go in the period before Caroline Coyer scored her 14th points of the half just before the buzzer, giving her team a 41-35 advantage heading into the intermission.
The two teams went back and forth over the opening minutes of the second half, but a 9-4 scoring run for the Wildcats built the home team's lead to 11, 52-41, with five minutes gone in the latter stanza.
St. John's trimmed the deficit to 10 on two occasions over the next few possessions, but Villanova's hot shooting continued to keep the Red Storm at bay.
After Villanova opened the lead to as many as 18, 81-63, the Red Storm closed the contest on a 6-0 run, but the Wildcats escaped with an 81-69 victory.
The Red Storm will next be in action a week from today, taking on Seton Hall on Feb. 1 at 2 p.m.
