St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
0-1
UCLA
1-0
St. John's Drops Season Opener to UCLA, 73-58
11/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES - Traveling across the country to begin the 2015-16 campaign, the St. John's Red Storm dropped its season-opener for the first time in three years, falling to reigning WNIT Champion UCLA, 73-58.
Senior guard Aliyyah Handford led the way for the Red Storm attack on Friday, netting 14 points on 7-of-16 shooting.
"This was a great opening test against a proven opponent," said Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "We certainty understand what we will need to improve on moving forward, however I thought there were some great takeaways from the game. We look to build upon the positives as we move into Sunday's game against UC Irvine."
Tartamella, who began his fourth season at the helm of the Red Storm, coached his 100th career game on Friday. In those 100 contests, Tartamella boasts a winning percentage of .640.
Handford's 14 points against the Bruins pushed her career total to 1,528, which moves her into sixth place on the Red Storm's all-time scoring list. Her first bucket of the game moved her past former St. John's star and first-year assistant coach Da'Shena Stevens. The senior guard is now just eight points behind Kia Wright for fifth place on the list.
Sophomore forward Imani Littleton recorded eight points and eight rebounds in her first-ever appearance in the starting lineup, both of which set new career highs.
Akina Wellere impressed in her Red Storm debut, as the rookie from Chicago tallied nine points and six boards.
Senior guard Danaejah Grant was one of two Johnnies to reach double figures, ending the game with 10 points and four boards.
The Red Storm had trouble handling UCLA's tremendous size, as the Bruins outrebounded St. John's on the game, 50-32.
Friday marked the first game for the Red Storm since the implementation of several major rule changes in the women's college game, most notably the format switching from two halves to four quarters.
Handford, who hails from Newark, N.J., scored four of the first five points for the Red Storm, who trailed 12-9 with two minutes left to go in the first quarter. Junior guard Aaliyah Lewis then drained a three-pointer from the top of the arc to tie the game at 12 with 51 seconds remaining until the break. UCLA promptly drove the floor, but the senior backcourt duo of Handford and Grant prevented the Bruins from taking back the lead in the first period with a solid defensive effort.
The Red Storm had trouble carrying over its momentum into the second quarter, as St. John's was held scoreless until the 4:50 mark of period. The Bruins, however, could not seem to miss, rattling off a 15-0 run.
Facing a large deficit, the Red Storm would not back down, as Wellere scored five points on an 11-2 St. John's run that cut the lead to six, 29-23, with 2:33 left until the half.
Despite the St. John's run, UCLA proved able to restore its sizable lead before the break, outscoring the Red Storm 7-1 and entering the locker room with a 36-24 advantage.
UCLA began the second half with a three-pointer from Kari Korver, which was answered immediately with a fast break layup from Grant. The Bruins and Red Storm would then trade buckets for most of the third quarter, but the Bruins opened up a game-high lead of 21 by the close of the period. St. John's did a better job down low, outscoring the Bruins 14-6 in the paint during the third quarter. Handford and Littleton combined for 10 of these points.
Trailing by 21 entering the final period, the Red Storm managed to reduce the lead to the 15-point deficit with which the game would end.
Coach Tartamella and his squad look to bounce back on Sunday, Nov. 15 when they take on UC Irvine at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. at 5 p.m. ET.
