St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
2-2
Virginia
4-1
St. John's Downs Virginia, 66-55
11/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats | SJU-TV Postgame Recap | Box Score (PDF)
LAS VEGAS - Playing in the 2016 South Point Thanksgiving Shoot Out in Las Vegas, the St. John's women's basketball team handed Virginia its first loss of the season Friday as the Red Storm came away with a 66-55 win behind a career-high 20 points from Akina Wellere.
"I thought we really finished the game today, which was big for us," Head Coach Joe Tartamella said. "I was really happy with how we performed in the fourth quarter."
For the second-straight game, Wellere was the leading scorer for the Johnnies (2-2). The sophomore topped her 19-point game against No. 22 Miami with a 20-point effort against Virginia. The Chicago, Ill., was 7-for-9 from the floor and hit 4-of-6 from behind the arc.
Aaliyah Lewis was one assist shy of a double-double, finishing the game with 14 points and a season-high nine dimes. The senior was the only player to play all 40 minutes and hit 9-of-12 shots from the free throw line.
Maya Singleton had her best performance of the season, scoring a season-high 11 points and grabbing a season-best six rebounds. The junior was 4-for-7 from the field and hit all three of her free throws.
St. John's and Virginia (4-1) played a back-and-forth first quarter with the Johnnies leading for most of the period. Late in the quarter, Singleton hit a lay-up with 2:29 to go, giving the Red Storm a 15-10 advantage. The Cavaliers had an answer, however, ending the quarter on an 11-3 spurt to take a 21-18 advantage into the first intermission. Wellere had five points in the opening 10 minutes.
Both teams struggled to score in the first few minutes of the second quarter as Virginia scored the first points of the period with 6:21 left before halftime. Each time the Red Storm got within striking distance, the Cavaliers had an answer until Singleton converted an and-one with 1:31 left in the quarter, cutting the St. John's deficit to 29-26 at the break.
After struggling in the second half in its last two games, St. John's came back and pulled away in the third quarter. Trailing 36-33 with 6:17 left in the third, the Johnnies went on a 10-0 run to take a 43-36 lead with just under two minutes remaining, fueled by a pair of Wellere threes. With just over a minute before the intermission, Singleton hit a lay-up, giving the Johnnies a 45-38 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. For the period, St. John's outscored Virginia, 19-9. Wellere scored nine of her 20 in the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Red Storm used a quick 6-0 spurt to extend its lead to 51-38 and held on from there. Virginia got within single digits on a few occasions, but the Johnnies hit nine free throws in the final 1:40 to seal it.
For the game, the Johnnies held advantages in second chance points (16-8) and points off the bench (13-7). St. John's hit 44.2 percent (23-52) of its shots from the floor, while holding Virginia to just 35.1 percent (20-57) from the field. As a team, the Red Storm finished with 15 assists on 23 made field goals.
The Johnnies will close out their stay in Las Vegas tomorrow afternoon, taking on No. 23/21 Arizona State at 4 p.m. eastern.
