St. John's University Athletics
St. John's to Face Butler on Sunday
2/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS - Fresh off a 69-56 win over Xavier on Friday night, St. John's will close out the road portion of its regular season on Sunday, traveling to Indianapolis for a 2 p.m. showdown with the Butler Bulldogs at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast live on BIG EAST Digital Network.
QUICK HITS
Aliyyah Handford will enter Sunday's contest with the opportunity to etch her name at the top of the St. John's all-time scoring ledger. The senior guard currently sits in second place with 1,935 points for her illustrious career, just 15 points behind Ling Ling Hou, who scored 1,950 points from 1976-80. The Newark, N.J., native had her finest game in nearly two months on Friday night, tallying 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals against the Musketeers. In addition to her scoring prowess, Handford ranks ninth of the school's all-time rebounding list with 675, just eight boards behind Kerry Karst (1980-82) in eighth place, and one steal (249) behind Kia Wright (2004-08) for fourth place all-time on that list.
The second-leading scorer in the BIG EAST, Danaejah Grant is in the midst of the hottest stretch of her career. The senior guard has scored 20 or more points in five-consecutive tilts, a streak she continued by tying a season-high with 29 points on Friday night against Xavier. The Piscataway, N.J., native, who is averaging 19.7 points per game this season, eclipsed the 500-point mark for the campaign against the Musketeers, becoming just the fifth player in program history to reach that total in consecutive seasons.
A victory against the Bulldogs would give the Red Storm (19-7, 10-5 BIG EAST) its 20th win of the season. St. John's has reached the 20-win plateau in each of the past two campaigns and five of the previous six overall. In the history of the program, St. John's has recorded 14 20-win seasons since 1974-75.
A win would also aid the Red Storm's push to create separation in the standings. Entering Sunday, St. John's is in sole possession of second place in the BIG EAST, with Seton Hall and Villanova one game behind in a tie for third. DePaul clinched its third-straight BIG EAST Regular Season Championship on Friday with a win against Providence. The top six teams in the conference get a bye to the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament, taking place March 5-8 in Chicago.
SCOUTING BUTLER
Coming off a narrow loss at home to Seton Hall on Friday night, Butler enters the game with a record of 8-18, 3-12 in conference.
Ranking second to last in the BIG EAST with a scoring average of just 60.3, Butler features two scorers in double figures. Senior Blaire Langlois tops the squad at 12.9 points per game, while freshman Brittany Ward ranks second on the team with 10.4 points per game. Ward is also the team's second-leading rebounder at 7.6 boards per game.
The Bulldogs have had a hard time winning the turnover battle this season, surrendering 17.5 possessions per game while forcing only 12.8 opposing turnovers per outing.
ST. JOHN'S VS. BUTLER- THE SERIES
Sunday will mark just the sixth meeting all-time between the Red Storm and the Bulldogs.
The Johnnies hold a 4-1 advantage in the series history, including a 2-0 mark at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler's lone win in the series came last year at Carnesecca Arena.
Earlier this year, the Red Storm held Butler to just 41 points in a 27-point win in Queens on Jan. 22.
