St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
[2/2] Connecticut
St. John's Falls to No. 2 UConn, 70-54
1/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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NEW YORK - Morgan Tuck scored a game-high 23 points and and reigning AP National Player of the Year Breanna Stewart added an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double, leading No. 2 Connecticut to a 70-54 win over St. John's at Madison Square Garden in the Maggie Dixon Classic in front of 7,419 spectators.
"I was very happy with our effort, especially in the first half," said St. John's Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "We did a great job of executing some of the things we were trying to do against a tremendous team with some great players. It's always fun to get a chance to play against Connecticut and get the opportunity to go up against one of the top teams in the country. Our players were ready for that opportunity. We did our best to make them score in ways that they previously hadn't, but it was very hard. I thought our kids fought real hard throughout the entire game so I'm very proud from that standpoint. We were relentless on both ends of the court and that's what we've been talking about doing all year. I thought we showed that to the country today."
The Red Storm held UConn to its lowest point total of the year so far with 70, the best effort in a cohort of teams that includes Stanford, Notre Dame, Duke, UCLA and DePaul. The Red Storm also limited the Huskies to their second-lowest single-game field goal percentage of the season at 46.9 percent. Only Stanford has held the Huskies to a lower clip from the floor in the latter's lone loss of the 2014-15 campaign.
Aliyyah Handford poured in 20 points to lead the Red Storm, in addition to grabbing eight boards. The junior guard from Newark, N.J., is just the third player this season to score 20 or more points against the Huskies.
Danaejah Grant and Amber Thompson also finished the game in double figures for the Red Storm, tallying 13 and 10 points, respectively. Thompson, the program's all-time leading rebounder, also corralled eight boards in the loss.
Sophomore point guard Aaliyah Lewis dished out a career-high nine assists and picking up only three turnovers against the defending national champions.
As a team, the Red Storm surrendered just 14 turnovers against a UConn team that had been forcing 21 a contest.
The Maggie Dixon Classic honors the memory of the late Army Women's Basketball head coach by the same name, who tragically passed away in 2006 at the age of 28 after leading the Black Knights to their first Patriot League title and an NCAA Tournament berth. In addition to honoring the memory of a rising star who left the world far too soon, the event also raised funds and awareness for heart health initiatives.
The game took on the feel of a back-and-forth affair in the opening minutes, as the Red Storm answered each of the Huskies' first three buckets, tying the game at six with a Thompson put-back just over three minutes into the contest.
After UConn pulled ahead by as many as five, 13-8, the Red Storm continued to answer, pulling within one, 17-16, on a tough Handford bucket with 11 and a half minutes left in the opening half.
The Huskies found it hard to miss from the floor over the next few minutes, jumping ahead by as many as nine, 33-24, with 7:22 remaining until the break. UConn continued to find the bottom of the bucket over the duration of the half, but a scoring flurry from Grant helped trim the deficit to just seven, 38-31, at the intermission.
Grant led all St. John's scorers with 13 in the first half, while Handford added eight and Thompson chipped in six points and five rebounds.
UConn came out of the gate on fire in the latter stanza, scoring the period's first eight points to jump ahead by 15, 46-31, just under three minutes into the action.
After the Huskies moved ahead by 18, 51-33, on a Morgan Tuck three-pointer, the Red Storm ignited an 8-1 run, closing the gap to just 11, 52-41, on a Handford and-one with 14 minutes to go.
The Huskies began to rebuild their lead after that, taking 19-point advantage, 60-41, on a Stewart layup at the midway mark of the half.
The Red Storm responded with four in a row of its own to narrow the deficit to 15, 60-45, with eight minutes to go.
Another Handford and-one would cut the gap to 14 a few minutes later, but that was as close as St. John's would get down the stretch, as UConn closed out the game on a 70-54 victory.
The Red Storm returns to action on Friday night, playing host to Butler in Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1.
