St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
3-1
Marist
0-4
St. John's Downs Marist, 61-47, in Home Opener
11/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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QUEENS, N.Y. - For the fourth-straight game, three St. John's players finished the game in double figures, as the Red Storm won its home opener for the fourth year in a row, 61-47, against the Marist Red Foxes on Sunday night.
"There are a number of things to build upon from today's performance, but I thought our team really grinded it out," said Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "The last couple of games we shot well from outside and today we struggled, but we showed that we can still find a way to win when the ball isn't going into the basket from outside. I'm pleased with the effort and obviously now we have to move forward to the next game and get ready for South Florida."
Aliyyah Handford paced the Red Storm with a game-high 19 points, converting on eight of her 16 attempts from the floor. The senior also filled up the stat sheet with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals in the winning effort.
Danaejah Grant chipped in 17 points and eight rebounds, in addition to recording a pair of steals.
Jade Walker reached double figures for the fourth-straight contest to start the season, recording 10 of her 13 points in the opening half. The Maplewood, N.J., product also grabbed seven rebounds in 26 minutes of action.
The Red Storm's defense limited the Red Foxes to just a 30.9 percent effort from the floor, including a 4-for-23 output from beyond the arc. Marist started the game two of 20 from deep before making two of its final three in the waning minutes of the game.
The two teams traded buckets in the opening minutes of the first quarter, as a Tori Jarosz jumper gave Marist the lead, 8-7 with just over five minutes gone in the period. From there, the Red Storm went on a tear to close out the opening stanza, outscoring the Red Foxes 15-6 to enter the break with a 22-13 advantage. Walker scored eight of her team's points on the run.
The Red Storm continued to push the pace in the second quarter, extending the lead to as many as 11 before entering the locker room with a 34-24 advantage.
After Marist trimmed the lead back to single digits at the beginning of the third quarter, the Red Storm used another late run to extend its lead, outscoring the Red Foxes 11-3 over the period's final 6:20 to take a commanding 47-32 advantage with 10 minutes to go.
St. John's climbed ahead by as many as 20 in the final stanza before Marist utilized a couple of late triples to end the game with a final score of 61-47.
The Red Storm will next be in action on Sunday, Nov. 29, when it plays host to nationally ranked USF. The game will be broadcast live on FS2 with tip-off set for 2 p.m.
