St. John's Tops Army, 60-49, on Friday Evening

Friday, November 16

West Point, N.Y. (Christl Arena)

5:00 P.M.

St. John's University

2-0

Army West Point

1-2

St. John's

Army

Redshirt freshman guard Tiana England (3) dished out seven assists in the 65-53 overtime victory over Kansas on Dec. 18, 2017 at Carnesecca Arena.

Photo by: Vincent Dusovic

11/16/2018 8:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Johnnies force 22 turnovers en route to their second-straight victory

By: Victoria Lanza

Behind a strong defensive effort, the St. John's women's basketball team recorded its second-straight victory on Friday evening by defeating Army, 60-49, at Christl Arena.

Akina Wellere was a force for the Johnnies, recording 17 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field. The senior guard also grabbed a trio of rebounds en route to the Johnnies' second-straight win of the year.

Alisha Kebbe stuffed the stat sheet for the Red Storm, recording 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.

After leading the team in assists last season, Tiana England continued her stellar passing effort matching a career-high 10 assists against the Black Knights. In addition, the 5-foot-7 guard grabbed seven of the team's 12 steals, becoming the first player to record more than five steals in a single contest since Crystal Simmons came away with five against Xavier in 2017.

A squad that was anchored by its defense throughout last season, the Red Storm continued that trend against the Black Knights, turning 22 Army turnovers into 24 points. St. John's has now forced at least 20 turnovers in back-to-back contests.

The Johnnies surrendered only six turnovers of their own in the team's victory for the lowest amount since allowing just three against Creighton during the BIG EAST Quarterfinals last season.

Army jumped out to an early lead, scoring in the first 14 seconds before hitting three of its first four shots to build a 10-7 lead at the game's first media timeout. After the Black Knights built up a three-point advantage the two teams traded off buckets over the remainder of the opening stanza before Wellere made a drive through traffic with 13 seconds remaining in the opening stanza to pull the Johnnies within two-points, 18-16, at the end of the first quarter.

St. John's seemly couldn't miss during the second quarter, as Kebbe opened up scoring, draining a shot from beyond the arc to give the Red Storm its first lead of the night. The Johnnies did not look back from that point on, entering the intermission with a, 30-24 lead.

On the other side of the break, the Red Storm continued to build up its lead, with an 18-point third quarter effort. Midway through the frame, the Red Strom took off on a 6-0 run. With seven seconds remaining, Wellere capped off the third quarter with a drive through traffic to build the Johnnies' lead to 12 points, 48-36, entering the final 10 minutes.

The Johnnies recorded their largest lead of the evening with under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter off a layup from Curteeona Brelove, to make it a 16-point game. The Black Knights continued to put up shots over the final minutes but a strong defense secured the win for the Johnnies down the stretch as the Red Storm recorded its second-straight win of the season.

St. John's will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 22 at 5:30 p.m. when the team travels to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam. The Johnnies will kick off play against Purdue before facing No. 2 ranked UConn on Friday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m. St. John's will then wrap up play on Saturday, Nov. 24 against Ole Miss at 5:30 p.m. FloHoops.com will provide a live stream of all the games during the Paradise Jam.