St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Creighton
St. John's Drops Defensive Battle, 53-39, at Creighton
1/26/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score (PDF)
OMAHA, Neb. - Going for its first-ever regular season sweep of Creighton, the St. John's women's basketball team ran into a defensive struggle, falling 53-39 on Friday night at D.J. Sokol Arena.
As a team, the Red Storm (12-9, 5-5 BIG EAST) shot 15-of-58 (.259) from the field, the squad's lowest effort in a single outing this season.
Andrayah Adams led the Johnnies with nine points, including a 3-pointer. The sophomore also grabbed five rebounds and dished out an assist.
Maya Singleton grabbed eight boards but struggled offensively, scoring four points on 2-of-11 shooting.
Freshman Tiana England continued to play a well-rounded game for the Red Storm, scoring eight points while recording four steals, two assists, a rebound, and a block in 37 minutes.
Despite struggling in the first half, Creighton (12-8, 6-4 BIG EAST) finished the game 20-of-49 (.408) from the field and had three players in double figures. Olivia Elger finished as the leading scorer with 16 points.
The Johnnies' 39 points marked the first time the Red Storm had failed to cross the 40-point threshold since Jan. 23, 2011, when St. John's scored 36 at No. 10 Notre Dame.
Neither side was able to find its touch in the early going, with both teams starting a combined 0-for-9 from the field before Akina Wellere finally got the Red Storm on the board nearly four minutes into the contest.
Following the brief 2-0 hole, Creighton replied with a 6-0 spurt in the span of a minute to quickly grab a 6-2 lead at the opening media timeout.
Creighton saw its lead grow to 14-4 before Qadashah Hoppie hit a 3-pointer with just four seconds remaining the quarter that looked to cut the deficit to seven after 10 minutes, but Sydney Lamberty hit a buzzer beater to restore the ten-point lead at 17-7.
Throughout the quarter, St. John's still had trouble getting shots to fall. The Johnnies finished the opening stanza 3-of-16 from the field, including 1-of-6 from downtown.
The Red Storm cranked up the defense in the second quarter, holding the Bluejays scoreless for more than six minutes to open the frame.
During that same span, St. John's scored the next 11 points to take the lead, 18-17. The run was punctuated by Kayla Charles grabbing her own miss, scoring, and earning the foul for a traditional 3-point play.
Creighton finally got on the board in the quarter with 3:40 remaining, but the lead was short lived as Adams hit a teardrop from the paint to restore the Johnnies' lead at 20-19. That basket for the Bluejays proved to be the only made field goal of the second quarter for the home side, finishing the frame 1-for-13 from the field.
England capped off a 5-for-7 clip to end the half for the Red Storm with a pull-up jumper from the wing to send the Johnnies into the locker room with a 22-20 advantage.
The three points allowed by St. John's in the second period were the fewest in a single quarter since Feb. 3, 2017, when the Red Storm held No. 17/17 DePaul to the same number.
The third quarter saw a much slower pace to start, with both teams using a majority of the shot clock. Creighton took back the lead, 26-24, just past the six-minute mark by holding the Red Storm scoreless for nearly five minutes.
Adams came alive in the final minutes of the frame, striking for back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 28-28, but the Bluejays replied with a 7-0 run to bump its lead to eight, 35-27, heading into the final stanza.
Creighton opened the fourth with a quick five points to push its lead to 12, 40-28, its largest lead of the game to that point.
St. John's closed the gap to ten on a pair of occasions, but the Bluejays continued to be efficient on offense over the final four minutes to close out the win.
A battle with Providence awaits St. John's on Sunday, as the Red Storm and the Friars will face off at 1 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
