St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
17-7 (8-5BE)
Villanova
16-9 (9-5BE)
St. John's Falls to Villanova, 71-59
2/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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| Box Score (PDF) | VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference
QUEENS, N.Y. - Taking on one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, St. John's was outdone by the trey on Friday evening, as Villanova shot 11-23 (47.8%) from long range to down the Red Storm, 71-59.
The defeat marked only the Red Storm's second falter at home this season and its first to an unranked team.
"Obviously a tough loss and it's frustrating coming off a nice win last weekend," said Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "I thought Villanova played a great game and they hit their shots. We held them at times and other times they made some tough shots. I thought we did a better job rebounding, especially in the first half. We did a great job weathering some of their runs, but in the fourth quarter they took hold of the game. Even when we seemed to score, they would answer. We started off well offensively and moved the ball, and then we became stagnant. They shot the ball very well tonight and like I told my guys in the locker room, 18 points off turnovers is not a stat you want to have. Coming off a game like this we have to move on and get ready for Sunday."
With the loss, St. John's falls to 17-7, 8-5 in the conference, and is now tied for third place in the BIG EAST standings with Xavier. Villanova improved to 16-9, 9-5 in league play, with the win and now holds sole possession of second place in the conference.
St. John's impressed in a number of statistical categories, shooting 49.1 percent from the floor and outrebounding the Wildcats by a 31-24 margin. Despite the Red Storm surrendering just nine turnovers for the game, Villanova was incredibly efficient on those ensuing possessions, recording 18 points.
Danaejah Grant led the Red Storm with a game-high 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Grant has now scored 20 or more in each of her last three games and has reached double figures in 27-consecutive contests dating back to last season. The senior guard from Piscataway, N.J., now has 1,315 points for her St. John's career, moving past Nadirah McKenith and Jackie Smith into 11th place on the school's all-time scoring list tonight.
Aliyyah Handford registered 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Johnnies, becoming just the second player in program history to surpass the 1,900 career point mark. Now with 1,904 for her St. John's tenure, Handford is now just 46 points away from tying Ling Ling Hou for first place on the Red Storm's all-time scoring ledger.
Jade Walker added eight points and six rebounds in the losing effort, while Aaliyah Lewis tallied seven points and dished out a game-high five assists while committing only one turnover.
The two squads played evenly in the first quarter, as the period featured four lead changes and a pair of ties. With the score knotted at 12 in the waning seconds of the opening period, Lewis knocked down a shot from deep, giving her team a 15-12 edge after 10 minutes.
On the first possession of the second period, Walker sank a layup to put her team ahead by five, 17-12.
Down five, Adrianna Hahn of Villanova converted on two-straight treys, putting her team ahead by one, 18-17, with just under eight minutes to go.
With St. John's trailing by three, 23-20, a few minutes later, Handford nailed a jumper to spark a 9-0 run for the Red Storm, putting the Johnnies ahead by six, 29-23, with two and a half minutes to play in the half.
Villanova responded with a run of its own, closing the half with eight unanswered to take a 31-29 advantage into the locker room.
Handford and Grant scored the second half's first two buckets to put the Red Storm up by a pair, 33-31, but the Wildcats quickly regained the advantage with an old-fashioned three-point play from Samantha Wilkes.
Grant would tie the game once again at 40 a couple of minutes later, but Villanova responded with an 8-0 run to take a 48-40 lead with 3:55 to play in the third quarter. All of eight of those points came off the hands of sophomore center Megan Quinn.
The Wildcats maintained their lead over the remainder of the period, holding a 55-46 lead after 30 minutes of action.
St. John's cut the deficit to seven on the opening possession of the final quarter, but that was as close as the Red Storm would get, as Villanova built its lead to as many as 18 late in the fourth quarter. The Red Storm rallied late, but ultimately fell short by a 71-59 margin.
The Red Storm returns to action on Sunday afternoon, playing host to Georgetown in the team's annual Play 4 Kay game. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at Carnesecca Arena.
