St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
8-2
Duquesne
11-1
No. 25 St. John's Falls to Duquesne, 76-57
12/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH - Jade Walker set a pair of career highs with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but her efforts were not enough to lead No. 25 St. John's past Duquesne, as the Dukes won their 17th-straight home game, 76-57, on Saturday evening at the A.J. Palumbo Center.
"Give credit to Duquesne who played a great game tonight," said Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "Our effort was not where it needed to be and unfortunately it cost us in a number of areas in the game tonight. We have to turn the page and get ready for Fairfield on Tuesday."
The loss marked the first for the Red Storm (8-2) in over a month, as the team's last defeat came against No. 19 UCLA in the season opener on Nov. 13.
The Dukes have now won 10 straight and possess an overall record of 11-1 on the campaign.
Walker's career efforts marked the second double-double of the season for the Red Storm. Danaejah Grant tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds in a win at Rutgers on Nov. 19.
Averaging a combined 40.0 points per game entering the contest, Grant and Aliyyah Handford totaled just 19 points on Saturday evening. Grant finished the contest with 10 points, her 13th-straight in double figures, while Handford was restricted to nine points in 15 minutes of action due to foul trouble.
The Johnnies got off to a hot start, connecting on five of their first eight attempts from the floor and jumping out to a 10-9 advantage at the first media stoppage just over five minutes into the game.
St. John's made just one of its next nine attempts from the field, but the Red Storm's defense locked down and managed to keep the game close, as the Dukes held just a one-point lead, 18-17, at the end of the first period.
Walker scored the first five points of the second quarter to give the Red Storm a 22-18 advantage with two and a half minutes gone in the period, but Duquesne responded with five of its own over the next 90 second to regain the lead.
The two teams traded buckets over the next several minutes before Grant closed out the first half with an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Red Storm a 33-30 advantage at the intermission.
At the break, Walker had 18 points and nine boards in just 17 minutes of action.
The first 20 minutes of action featured six ties and 16 lead changes.
The Red Storm scored second half's first points to take the largest lead of the game so far, 36-30, but Duquesne slowly chipped away and tied the contest at 38 with an 8-2 run over the course of three and a half minutes.
After Walker's 20th point of the evening gave the Red Storm a two-point advantage, Duquesne took its first lead since the 4:27 mark of the second quarter with an Emilie Gronas three pointer.
Following an Akina Wellere jumper to make it 42-41 in favor of the Red Storm with 4:27 to go in the third quarter, the Dukes rattled off seven answered to take a six-point lead, 48-42, with just under three minutes remaining in period number three.
With 10 minutes to play, Duquesne had built its lead to eight, 52-44.
The Red Storm scored on back-to-back possessions to open the final quarter, trimming the deficit to just four, 52-48, on a Jordan Agustus layup a minute into the period.
The Dukes responded with six unanswered, taking the first double-digit lead of the game, 58-48, with 7:18 to go.
Duquesne continued to build its lead during the contest's closing minutes before finishing the game with a 76-57 advantage.
