Johnnies Win Overtime Thriller, 71-69, against Fairfield

Friday, December 20

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

1 p.m.

St. John's University

7-4,0-0Big East

Fairfield

3-5,0-0MAAC

OT 1

Fairfield

St. John's (NY)

Johnnies Win Overtime Thriller, 71-69, against Fairfield

12/20/2019 6:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Fairfield Photo Gallery

Correa’s 31 points lead St. John’s past the Stags

By: Victoria Lanza

Behind a 31-point performance from freshman guard Leilani Correa, the St. John's women's basketball team defeated Fairfield, 71-69, in overtime at Carnesecca Arena on Friday afternoon, putting the exclamation mark on non-conference play.

With the Red Storm's win, the Johnnies are 5-0 at Carnesecca Arena this season for the team's best start at home since the 2015-16 campaign. That same year, St. John's jumped out to a 5-0 start in Queens before going on to capture the BIG EAST Championship.

The victory over the Stags also marked the 150th career-win for eighth-year Head Coach Joe Tartamella.

With time ticking down in regulation and the Red Storm trailing Fairfield by two, 62-60, Correa converted on a jump shot off a pass from Tiana England to knot the score at 62 and force overtime.

Correa carried that momentum into the extra period, opening with a layup to make it a one possession game. The two teams traded free throws over the next few minutes with Fairfield leading, 69-67, and under 60 seconds to play. With eight ticks on the clock and Fairfield holding on to the lead, England converted in the paint to tie the score at 69. Two seconds later Kadaja Bailey's tough defense forced Fairfield to turn the ball over, setting up Correa for the game-winning jumper on the restart.

Correa's 31 points marked her second effort of the season with 30 points or more in a single contest. The rookie from Manchester, N.J., became just the third player in program history to eclipse 30-plus points twice in one season and the first since Tawana Jackson, who finished with at least 30 points on four different occasions in 1995. The sharpshooting rookie, who made 12 of her 23 field goal attempts and six of her eight tries from beyond the arc, also pulled down eight boards against the Stags.

Qadashah Hoppie and England joined Correa in double figures, knocking down 15 and 13 points on the afternoon.

Despite netting just six points for the Red Storm, Bailey paced the way for the team in rebounds, pulling down a season-high 10.

The Johnnies jumped out to an early lead as Hoppie drained a three ball to open up scoring on the afternoon. The two teams traded blows over the next few minutes with the Red Storm leading, 10-8, midway through the opening quarter.

The tradeoff continued between the two programs down the stretch of the first period, with the Stags knotting the contest at 15 after 10 minutes of action.

Unique Drake made a drive to the glass to start the second stanza, putting the Red Storm back on top, 17-15. Fairfield responded with a layup from Katie Armstrong to tie the game at 17 before Correa rattled off a 6-2 run over her own, giving St. John's a four-point advantage, 23-19.

The Stags continued to chip away at the Red Storm's lead over the next few minutes before firing off four-straight points to take their first advantage of the afternoon, 30-28, heading into the locker room.

At the break, Hoppie paced the way for the Johnnies with nine points while Correa notched eight to go along with three rebounds.

Coming out of the intermission, Fairfield drained an early jumper to add upon its lead, 32-28. England responded for the Red Storm making a drive to the basket that resulted in an and-one to cut the Red Storm's deficit to one, 32-31.

Fairfield continued to convert on shots, outscoring the Johnnies, 10-4, over the next few minutes to lead by seven, 42-35, at the 5:29 mark.

With the Johnnies in need of a big run, Correa went off. She scored the next six points, closing off her personal run with a three-ball to pull the Johnnies' back within one before Alissa Alston added three points to put the Red Storm ahead, 46-44.

With seconds on the clock and the Johnnies leading by two, the Stags' Armstrong netted a buzzer beater to regain the lead, 47-46, after 30 minutes of action.

The two teams went back and forth to open the fourth quarter with the Johnnies taking a 60-56 advantage with under three minutes to play in regulation. Fairfield then used a late push, rattling off six answered points to lead 62-60. Then with two seconds left, Correa netted a jump shot to force overtime.

With St. John's trailing 69-67 and just eight ticks left on the clock in overtime, England and Correa converted on back-to-back jumpers to secure the win for St. John's.

The Red Storm will kick off conference play with a two-game road stretch next weekend. The Johnnies will begin BIG EAST action at Xavier on Dec. 29 before traveling to Butler to wrap up 2019 against the Bulldogs on Dec. 31.