St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Seton Hall
Seton Hall Downs St. John's, 62-57, on Sunday
1/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score (PDF)
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Following a week-long layoff, the St. John's women's basketball team fell to Seton Hall on Sunday afternoon, 62-57, inside Walsh Gymnasium.
The loss halted a five-game win streak for the Red Storm (12-8, 5-4 BIG EAST) and gave the Pirates (12-8, 4-5 BIG EAST) their third win in four tries.
Alisha Kebbe led the Johnnies in points with 15, including a trio of 3-pointers, while Maya Singleton grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. The senior, who ranks in the top five nationally in double-doubles, fell short of that mark with only six points.
Qadashah Hoppie also reached double figures for St. John's, scoring 11 points.
Facing the conference's leader in steals per game, the Johnnies won the turnover battle, committing just 16 while forcing 22 Seton Hall miscues. The Pirates proved more efficient on the resulting possessions; however, turning those 16 turnovers into 17 points, while the Johnnies registered just 12 points off turnovers on the afternoon.
Following the week off, the Red Storm was a bit slow out of the gate on offense. The visitors missed their first five field goals while also committing three turnovers to fall behind 7-0 in the early going. Hoppie finally snapped the early scoring drought after four and a half minutes with a driving layup.
The Pirates built the lead to as high as seven, 11-4, in the opening frame, but the Johnnies slowly began to climb back into the game with stout defense and a resurgent offense.
A Kebbe bucket and an Adrayah Adams 3-pointer cut the deficit to two before Seton Hall closed the quarter with four-straight points to lead 15-9 after ten minutes.
In the second quarter, both sides had difficulty finding the basket in the first four minutes of the period.
With the Pirates leading 16-11, Kebbe recorded a huge block that kicked out to Tiana England, who then found Adams under the hoop to shrink the differential down to three at 16-13.
The teams continued to trade baskets as the half wore on, with Seton Hall leading 20-13 before the Red Storm brought it back to 22-19. Each side made a pair of shots from the charity stripe in the final two minutes and the Pirates held a 24-21 lead heading into the locker room.
Adams led the Johnnies with five points in the first half, including a three, while Singleton tallied eight rebounds.
The Red Storm started the third quarter with a triple from the corner by Hoppie to tie the game at 24 before the Pirates replied with four-straight to restore a 28-24 lead.
After a pair of Singleton free throws cut the deficit to two, Kebbe hit another 3-pointer from the top of the arc to give the Johnnies their first lead of the game, 29-28, with just over six minutes to play in the third.
St. John's saw its lead grow to 35-30 when Akina Wellere drove the lane and sank a lefty layup, but the Pirates responded again with only their second converted three of the game and two free throws to tie the game at 35 with 2:23 remaining in the stanza.
Wellere continued the hot shooting from downtown in the quarter, sinking a transition three from the corner to put the Red Storm back in front. Kebbe then hit the fourth triple of the frame to push the Johnnies in front, 41-36.
Continuing to answer the call, Seton Hall rattled off five-consecutive points, including a three with just seven seconds to play, sending the game into the final quarter tied at 41.
The run grew to 12-2 for the Pirates in the opening minutes of the fourth on a pair of jumpers and a three to push the lead to 48-43, forcing a St. John's timeout just 2:26 into the period.
Out of the timeout, Seton Hall continued its attack by building a 52-45 lead thanks to three Red Storm turnovers and some hot shooting.
After missing her first seven shots from the field, Singleton finally got a bucket to fall off a great pass from England, bringing the score to 52-47 with just under five minutes to play.
The Johnnies whittled the lead down to 52-49 on an England layup before the Pirates struck for back-to-back baskets to restore the 56-49 advantage and forced St. John's into a timeout with three minutes to go.
Trailing 58-51 with just two minutes to play, the Red Storm used an England free throw and Hoppie layup to cut the lead to 58-54, but a crucial turnover sent the Pirates back to the charity stripe to give the home side a 60-54 lead with just 20 seconds remaining.
Seton Hall closed out the win from the line and snapped the winning streak for the Johnnies.
St. John's will return to action on Friday with a trip to Omaha, Neb. for a showdown with Creighton at 8 p.m. on BEDN.
