St. John's University Athletics
St. John's to Host Providence on Friday Morning
2/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
QUEENS, N.Y. - Sitting in a tie for second place in the BIG EAST standings with just a pair of games remaining before the conference tournament, St. John's will play its penultimate regular season contest on Friday, welcoming the Providence Friars to Carnesecca Arena for an 11 a.m. tilt. The game marks the Red Storm's annual Field Trip Day, as over 5,000 young fans are expected to flock to the Queens campus.
QUICK HITS
Aliyyah Handford enters Friday's game with the opportunity to cement her legacy as the greatest player in St. John's Women's Basketball history. With 1,946 points for her career, Handford is just four points away from tying Ling Ling Hou (1976-80) for first place on the St. John's all-time scoring list. In addition to her ascent up the St. John's career scoring charts, Handford also ranks near the top of the Red Storm's all-time lists in steals (4th-252) and rebounds (9th-680). The Newark, N.J., native is just three steals away from tying Debbie Beckford (1979-83) for third all-time on that list and three boards away from tying Kerry Karst (1979-82) in eighth place on the rebounding ledger.
Danaejah Grant continued the hottest stretch of her career in The Midwest this past weekend, taking home BIG EAST Player of the Week honors for her efforts against Xavier and Butler. On Friday against the Musketeers, Grant tied a season-high with 29 points to go along with six boards and a pair of steals. Two days later against the Bulldogs, Grant registered her fourth double-double of the campaign, registering 27 points and 11 rebounds. Grant, the leading scorer in the BIG EAST at 20.0 points per game this season, has now scored 20 or more points in six-straight contests, the longest such streak of her career. Despite this being just her third season in red and white, Grant is also making her presence felt in the St. John's career record books, as she sits only eight points away from entering the Red Storm's top 10 in all-time scoring.
With 19 wins so far on the campaign, the Red Storm will have the opportunity to record its third-straight 20-win season when it takes the floor against the Friars. St. John's has registered 20 or more wins in five of the past six seasons and 14 times overall in program history.
The Red Storm's final weekend of play will have a significant impact on the team's seeding for the BIG EAST Tournament. As it stands right now, the Red Storm is in a three-way tie for second place with Villanova and Seton Hall. Should the three-way tie persist throughout the weekend with each team winning a pair of games, the Red Storm would be the three seed, as they have the second-best record against the "mini-conference" of St. John's (2-2), Seton Hall (1-3) and Villanova (3-1). In the event of a two-way tie for second, St. John's would have the tiebreaker against Seton Hall, but Villanova would have the advantage in a possible deadlock between the Red Storm and the Wildcats.
SCOUTING PROVIDENCE
With a record of 5-21 overall and 1-15 in conference, Providence comes to Carnesecca Arena ranked last in the BIG EAST.
Two Friars average double figures: Sarah Beal at 10.7 points per game and Jovana "Yoyo" Nogic at 10.1 points per outing.
Nogic is the team's top three-point shooter, making 49 of her team-high 118 attempts this season (41.5%).
The Friars have struggled on the boards, being outrebounded by an average margin of 6.5 rebounds per game this season.
ST. JOHN'S VS. PROVIDENCE- THE SERIES
The Friars are the second-most frequently played opponent in Red Storm history, with the two squads having faced off on 63 occasions since the 1977-78 season.
St. John's has enjoyed plenty of success against the Friars over the past few years, rattling off 11 straight-wins dating back to 2008. Since 2003, the Red Storm has won 16 of the last 17 meetings between the two teams.
Earlier this season, the Red Storm took the first meeting between the two longtime conference foes, downing the Friars, 80-61, in Rhode Island. In that game, Aliyyah Handford netted 23 points to move from fourth to second on the St. John's all-time scoring list.
