St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Closes Out Non-Conference Slate Against Buffalo
12/20/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
QUEENS, N.Y. - In its final non-conference showdown of the season, the St. John's women's basketball team will host in-state adversary Buffalo (8-2) on Thursday from Carnesecca Arena.
The game will be streamed live on ESPN3 with Ralph Bednarczyk and Sky Lindsay on the call. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. from Queens.
In its annual field trip game, the Red Storm (7-3) will be looking for its fifth win in its last six tries and its fifth win at home this season. No matter the result, St. John's has also guaranteed itself of a winning non-conference mark for the fifth-consecutive season.
Highlighted by a 24-rebound performance from Maya Singleton that matched a 41-year old program record, the St. John's women's basketball team defeated Big 12 foe Kansas, 65-53, in overtime on Monday night at Carnesecca Arena.
Singleton's 24 rebounds matched a 41-year old mark set by Mary Doyle against Brooklyn on Jan. 19, 1976. Singleton also scored 14 points and added three steals for her seventh double-double of the season in just ten games.
In the win over Kansas, St. John's continued to play tough defense by forcing a season-high 24 turnovers and have now pressured opponents into 15-or-more turnovers in eight-of-10 games this season.
The Johnnies held the Jayhawks to 17-for-57 (29.8%) from the field, including a 3-for-15 (20.0%) clip from three.
Monday's win also marked the first time in program history that St. John's (7-3) has played in back-to-back overtime games, coming off a double-overtime thriller versus Fordham last week.
Following her 18-point outburst, Akina Wellere now paces the team with 13.4 points per game. The junior heads a balanced attack for the Johnnies, who boast five-different players averaging double figures.
Thursday's showdown will be the seventh all-time meeting between the programs, with the Bulls holding a two-game advantage in the series. The matchup will also be the first meeting between the teams since an 81-57 St. John's win in 2008. The Johnnies have won two-straight games over the Bulls after dropping the previous four.
Buffalo enters Thursday's game on the heels of only its second loss of the season at Niagara on Monday. The Bulls opened the season with a pair of four-game winning streaks before suffering their lone prior setback at Arizona State. UB has defeated Nebraska and Clemson this season, and invades Carnesecca Arena with a 3-2 record on the road.
UB is led by reigning Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week, Cierra Dillard, who sits second on the team in points (12.8) while also chipping in with 4.9 assists, 3.6 steals, and 3.2 rebounds a game. The 3.6 steals per game currently ranks first in the MAC and sixth in the NCAA.
St. John's will have a short break for the holiday season following Thursday's game, and then will open BIG EAST play at Marquette (Dec. 28) and DePaul (Dec. 30).
