Late Marquette Surge Sinks St. John’s, 94-85

Friday, January 10

Milwaukee, Wis. (Al McGuire Center)

8:00 p.m.

St. John's University

10-6,3-2Big East

Marquette

11-4,2-2Big East

St. John's (NY)

Marquette

1/10/2020 11:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Four players finish in double figures in Red Storm setback

By: Victoria Lanza

After trailing for nearly 34 minutes, Marquette made one final push, using an 8-0 run down the stretch to defeat St. John's, 94-85, on Friday night at the Al McGuire Center.

Four different players finished in double figures for St. John's as Qadashah Hoppie led all scorers with her sixth 20-plus point effort of the season. The junior guard knocked down a team-high 22 points with 16 of those coming in the second half. Hoppie converted on eight of her 14 tries from the floor including 3-of-7 from distance.

Leilani Correa, who sits second in scoring on the team, finished with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. The freshman guard also pulled down five boards for the Johnnies.

Alissa Alston tallied 15 points, hitting four of her six field goal attempts, including one from three-point range. Alston also had a perfect 6-for-6 showing from the charity stripe.

Tiana England chipped in 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor. The Stamford, Conn., native also led the team in assists, dishing out five dimes.

St. John's (10-6, 3-2 BIG EAST) came out of the gate firing, using an early 10-2 run to move ahead by eight with a little over two minutes gone in the contest. Hoppie, who leads the team in scoring, capped off the Red Storm's run with a shot from distance.

The Golden Eagles (11-4, 2-2 BIG EAST) began to chip away at the Johnnies' lead, pulling the contest within one, twice over the final 90 seconds of the opening quarter. With time winding down and three ticks left on the clock, Hoppie sank a shot from beyond the arc to give the Red Storm a 26-22 edge after 10 minutes of action.

The Golden Eagles made a drive to the glass to start the second quarter, cutting their deficit down to two, 26-24. The Johnnies responded with an 11-2 spurt to take a double-digit lead, 37-26, at the midway mark of the second stanza.

The two teams traded blows over the next 60 seconds, until Marquette unleashed an 8-0 run to trim the Johnnies' lead back down to three, 40-37. The two programs played evenly matched over the remainder of the half with the Red Storm building its lead back up to five, 47-42, at the intermission.

Alston led the way for the Johnnies at the break with 12 points. The New Haven, Conn., native converted on all three of her attempts from the floor, including a shot from beyond the arc. Alston also knocked down all five of her tries from the charity stripe.

Alisha Kebbe drained one from downtown to open the third quarter, building the Johnnies' lead up to 50-42 in the first 20 seconds of the frame. The Golden Eagles continued to fight, cutting the visiting team's lead back down to four, 57-53, at the 6:32 mark.

England, Hoppie and Kadaja Bailey pieced together a 6-0 run for the Red Storm, quickly restoring its lead to double-digits, 63-53.

The Golden Eagles managed to inch their way back, outscoring the Red Storm, 12-4, over the final three minutes to turn the contest into a one possession game, 72-69, heading into the final frame.

The back-and-forth battle began again in the final 10 minutes but with 8:21 on the clock, Marquette used a 9-2 run to take the lead, 80-79, for the first time since the opening frame.

The next several minutes saw two ties and three lead changes before the Golden Eagles used a final 8-0 run to cement the victory.

The Johnnies will return to action on Sunday afternoon, when they face their toughest test of conference play. The Red Storm will visit No. 15/17 DePaul for a 1 p.m. ET meeting on FS1.