St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
14-3, 5-1BE
Georgetown
9-8, 2-5BE
St. John's Outlasts Georgetown, 65-60
1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
WASHINGTON - Three members of the Red Storm finished in double figures, as St. John's (14-3, 5-1 BIG EAST) withstood a late Georgetown charge to claim a 65-60 victory on Friday afternoon in the nation's capital.
"This was a great road win," said Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "It's always important to start off a weekend, especially when you're playing Friday-Sunday, with a lot of energy and a lot of passion. I thought we did a great job finishing today. We had a number of players in double figures. Everybody had a chance to contribute off the bench, so I was very proud of our effort and now we look forward to Sunday as we get prepared for a very tough opponent in Villanova."
Danaejah Grant, the BIG EAST's leading scorer, paced the Red Storm with 17 points and five rebounds. The senior guard from Piscataway, N.J., also added two assists, two blocks and a pair of steals.
Aaliyah Lewis converted on five of her eight shots attempts, including two of her three tries from beyond the arc, to finish with 15 points. She also chipped in five rebounds and two assists.
Aliyyah Handford added 14 points and seven rebounds in the winning effort. The senior guard also registered three assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.
With eight points and nine rebounds, Jade Walker narrowly missed a double-double.
The Red Storm's defense set the tone in the early going, as Georgetown made just one of its first seven shots and St. John's jumped out to a 13-6 lead near the midway mark of the first period.
The Hoyas (9-8, 2-5 BIG EAST) would cut the lead to two, 15-13, with just over two minutes to go in the quarter, but the Red Storm quickly built its advantage to eight, 21-13, after 10 minutes of play.
The Red Storm bumped its lead to as many as nine, 28-19, in the early part of the second period. After the Hoyas rattled off four in a row to cut the deficit to five, the Johnnies responded with five of their own, as Lewis nailed a three and Handford recorded a steal-and-score to give the Red Storm its first double digit advantage of the game.
St. John's maintained a lead in that area for the rest of the half, taking a 35-26 advantage into the locker room.
The Hoyas started the second half on a 7-2 run, trimming the deficit to four, 37-33, just over three minutes into the action. Once again, the Red Storm repelled the Georgetown advance, as Grant scored three in a row and sparked an 11-3 run to give her team a 48-36 lead in the waning seconds of the period.
With time expiring, Dionna White of Georgetown launched a three-quarter court heave that banked in, trimming the St. John's lead to nine, 48-39, with 10 minutes to play.
After scoring nine of the quarter's first 13 points, the Hoyas knocked the Red Storm lead down to four, 52-48, with three minutes gone in the final period. Following a St. John's response, the Hoyas continued to fight, trimming the deficit down to three points twice in the final three minutes. The Red Storm, however, was able to hold off the charge, escaping with a 65-60 victory.
St. John's returns to action on Sunday afternoon, taking on Villanova at the Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
