St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
9-4, 1-1BIGEAST
Xavier
9-5, 1-2BIGEAST
Walker's Career Night Highlights 65-48 Win at Xavier
1/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CINCINNATI - Led by the senior duo of Jade Walker and Aaliyah Lewis, the St. John's women's basketball team (9-4, 1-1 BIG EAST) registered one of its best offensive outputs of the season on Monday night en route to a 65-48 win on the road at Xavier (9-5, 1-2 BIG EAST).
"This was a great win for us, bouncing back from a tough loss last week," said Head Coach Joe Tartamella. "I thought we did a great job in a number of phases of the game that we needed to improve on and I was really pleased with our effort. I thought the second quarter really became the difference and helped us open the game up a little and give us confidence going into the half. I thought we did a great job of sustaining it throughout the second half."
Walker netted a career-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor. The senior from Maplewood, N.J., brought down seven rebounds, grabbed two steals, dished out one assist and blocked one shot in the win.
Lewis also had a career-night as the 5-5 guard from Staten Island, N.Y., dished out a career-best 13 assists. The last time a St. John's player had at least 12 assists was back on Feb. 9, 2013 when former Red Storm standout Nadirah McKenith registered 12 dimes against Georgetown.
Freshman Alisha Kebbe had one of her best overall games of the season as the Philadelphia, Pa., native recorded 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Five of Kebbe's nine boards came on the offensive glass.
Imani Littleton posted her second double-digit rebound game of the year as the junior from San Diego, Calif., brought down 10 boards. Like Kebbe, Littleton did work on the offensive glass, hauling in five offensive caroms.
As a team, St. John's out-rebounded the Musketeers, 43-24, and came away with 13 steals to Xavier's eight. From the field, the Red Storm hit 26 of its 66 tries while holding Xavier to 17-of-40 from the floor.
Xavier took control early as St. John's trailed 18-10 after the first quarter. Then, with the Musketeers leading 25-24 with 3:30 left in the second, the Red Storm rattled off 14 unanswered points to close out the first half and never looked back. Kebbe and Andrayah Adams both had five points during the run. Crystal Simmons went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe with two seconds left before the break, giving St. John's a 38-25 lead at the half. For the period, the Red Storm outscored Xavier, 28-7.
In the third, Akina Wellere drained a three to extend the Red Storm lead to 19, 48-29, with 4:16 left in the quarter, the team's largest lead at that point. Throughout the remainder of the contest, St. John's maintained its double-digit lead and led by as many as 22 points on three different occasions in the fourth quarter.
Wellere finished with eight points. Maya Singleton added seven points and six rebounds.
As a team, St. John's assisted on 20 of its 26 made field goals, which is the most assists in a single game this season.
St. John's is back in action on Thursday when it heads to Indianapolis to take on Butler. The first tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
