St. John's Falls to Villanova, 73-57

Sunday, January 27

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

2:00 PM

St. John's University

9-11, 2-7

Villanova University

13-7, 4-5

Villanova

St. John's

1/27/2019 5:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Tiana England led the Red Storm with a season-high 18 points

By: Victoria Lanza

Despite a season-high 18-point performance from Tiana England, the St. John's women's basketball team fell to Villanova, 73-57, on Sunday afternoon at Carnesecca Arena.

England stuffed the stat sheet for the Johnnies, as the redshirt sophomore drained seven of her nine tries from the floor. The 5-foot-7 guard also recorded three rebounds, two assists, a pair of steals and a block against the Wildcats.

Two other Johnnies finished in double figures, as Akina Wellere and Qadashah Hoppie chipped in 11 and 12 points, respectively.

Coming off of a 28-point showing at Seton Hall, Mary Gedaka drained 10 of her 11 tries from the floor to finish with a game-high 23 points for the Wildcats.

Villanova (13-7, 4-5 BIG EAST) opened up the scoring, draining a shot from deep to take a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter. The two teams traded off buckets over the next few minutes before Villanova rattled off an 8-0 run to find some separation and lead, 17-8, with 3:45 left on the clock.

The Johnnies (9-11, 2-7 BIG EAST) began to chip away at the Wildcats' lead, trimming its deficit to single digits, 22-13, after the first 10 minutes of action.

Villanova kicked off the second quarter with six unanswered points before England fed Wellere a pass in the paint to snap the Wildcats' second-quarter run.

Both sides traded baskets down the stretch, as Villanova entered halftime with a 34-23 advantage. After the first 20 minutes of action, England paced the Johnnies with nine points, draining four of her six shots from the field.

Coming out of the locker room, the Wildcats netted the team's fifth triple of the game to extend their lead to 14, 37-23. The Johnnies responded with an 8-3 run, as Wellere scored six of the Johnnies eight points on the tear.

The Wildcats' offense beat out the Red Storm down the stretch, 17-4, to build up a 22-point lead after 30 minutes of action, 57-35.

Villanova was called for a personal foul early in the fourth quarter, sending Wellere to the line. The senior guard split her shots to make the score, 57-36, in favor of the visiting team with 9:08 left on the clock.

St. John's used a late 6-1 push to get within 15 in the final minutes of play, but that was as close as the Red Storm would get, as Villanova escaped Queens with a 16-point victory.

St. John's returns to action on Friday when the Johnnies host Butler at 7 p.m. inside Carnesecca Arena. The action can be seen live on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN).