St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
19-7, 10-5
Xavier
17-9, 8-7
St. John's Outlasts Xavier, 69-56
2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CINCINNATI - Leading by 20 at the intermission, St. John's withstood a spirited second-half Xavier charge, outlasting the Musketeers, 69-56, to pick up its 10th BIG EAST win of the season at Cintas Center on Friday evening.
"This was an important game, as they all are at this time of the year," said Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "I was very pleased with our effort on all fronts, especially to finish the second quarter."
That second quarter saw the Red Storm outscore Xavier by a 26-4 margin.
Danaejah Grant led the way for the Red Storm (19-7, 10-5 BIG EAST), tying a season-high with 29 points, her fifth-straight game with at least 20 points. The senior guard from Piscataway, N.J., also added six boards.
Grant now has 512 points on the campaign, making her just the fifth player in school history to record back-to-back 500-point seasons.
Aliyyah Handford filled the stat sheet against the Musketeers (17-9, 8-7 BIG EAST), recording 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals. The senior guard from Newark, N.J., inched closer to the St. John's all-time scoring record, as she is now just 15 points away (1,935) from tying Ling Ling Hou (1,950) for first place on the school's career points list.
Aaliyah Lewis tied a season-high in the assist column, dishing out seven helpers while surrendering just two turnovers. She also recorded a pair of steals and added five points.
Junior Jade Walker set a new career-high on the defensive end of the floor, recording five of her team's season-high eight blocks.
As a team, the Red Storm did an exceptional job distributing and taking care of the basketball, registering assists on 18 of its 26 made field goals and surrendering just nine turnovers.
Grant and Handford nailed the Red Storm's first two shots of the game to give their team an early 4-0 lead, but Xavier responded with 10 unanswered to move ahead by six just over three minutes into the contest.
Trailing 12-5 a minute later, St. John's unleashed a 7-0 run to knot the score at 12 with 3:29 to play in the opening quarter.
The two teams battled for the remainder of the period, but Xavier held a 20-18 lead after 10 minutes.
Following the break, Handford came back to the floor and played like a woman possessed, scoring seven points on an 8-0 run for the Red Storm, giving the Johnnies a 26-20 lead and forcing a Xavier timeout with 7:12 to go in the second quarter.
The Red Storm defense continued to hold the Musketeers scoreless over the next several minutes, increasing its lead to eight, 28-20, while keeping Xavier off the score sheet until the 4:07 mark of the period.
Leading by seven, 31-24, with 3:20 to go until the intermission, Grant sparked a furious 13-0 run to end the quarter for the Red Storm, giving St. John's a 44-24 after 20 minutes.
Xavier chipped into the Red Storm lead in quarter number three, outscoring St. John's 22-14, to move within 12, 58-46, with 10 minutes to play. The Musketeers went to the charity stripe 13 times in the third period, converting on nine of those attempts.
The Musketeers scored the final period's first six points, cutting the deficit to just six, 58-52, with 7:57 to play.
From there, the Red Storm defense went into high gear, holding Xavier with a point for 4:06 while the offense rebuilt the lead to double digits.
Xavier would cut the lead down to nine with three and a half minutes to play, but the Musketeers got no closer, as St. John's made its shots down the stretch and came away with the 69-56 victory.
The Red Storm will be back in action on Sunday, traveling to Indianapolis for a 2 p.m. showdown with the Butler Bulldogs.
