St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
8-1
UCF
3-6
St. John's Downs UCF, 70-42
12/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ORLANDO, Fla. - Aided by a 21-0 second quarter run, the St. John's Red Storm won its eighth-straight game on Sunday afternoon, running past UCF, 70-42, in Orlando.
Aliyyah Handford and Danaejah Grant, the third-best pair of teammates in the nation in terms of offensive production, once again led the way for the Red Storm. Grant tallied a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds, while Handford added 21 points and six boards. Grant, the BIG EAST's leading scorer this season, reached the 20-point mark for the fifth time in nine games. Handford, who ranks second in the conference in scoring, scored in excess of 20 for the fourth time this year.
In addition to Handford and Grant's offensive outbursts, the Red Storm earned a victory thanks to its defense, which allowed a season-low 42 points and forced 22 turnovers, 14 of which were steals. Handford led the squad with five swipes.
The Red Storm went to the line a season-high 33 times, converting on 78.8 percent of those chances. Handford went eight-for-nine from the charity stripe, while Grant sank 11 of her career-high 14 attempts.
All 11 members of the Red Storm saw the floor on Sunday, with nine of those players registering points.
Handford kicked off the game with her second three-pointer of the season, the fifth of her career, on the Red Storm's third possession of the contest to give her team the early lead.
After that, the Red Storm, which had been shooting lights out over the last few games, went cold, scoring just eight more points before the end of the first quarter. Luckily for St. John's, UCF also struggled to find the bottom of the bucket and the two teams were tied at 11 after 10 minutes of action.
Following a subpar first quarter, the Red Storm put together one of its best periods of basketball this season. Handford and Grant combined for the quarter's first 14 points, as Grant poured in eight and Handford added six in the first four minutes of play. The Red Storm was not done then, as Jade Walker and Aaliyah Lewis teamed up for the next seven points of the game. By the time UCF found the bottom of the bucket, St. John's had scored 21 unanswered and built its lead to 32-11 with just over two minutes remaining until the intermission.
At the half the Red Storm led 37-16, with 14 points coming off Knight turnovers. The Red Storm had 12 steals at the break. Before Sunday, the team's season high for a game had been 11 against Marist.
The Red Storm continued to apply pressure in the third period, building its lead to 23, 52-29, with 10 minutes to play.
The final quarter of play also proved favorable for the Red Storm, as St. John's built its lead to as many as 28 before closing out the game with a 70-42 victory.
The Red Storm will next be in action on Saturday, Dec. 19, as the team travels to Pittsburgh for a 4:30 p.m. matchup with Duquesne.
