St. John's Kicks off Road Swing at Villanova on Friday

With the first half of BIG EAST action in the rearview mirror, the St. John's women's basketball team will kick off the second leg of conference play on Friday night at Finneran Pavilion as the Johnnies take on the Villanova Wildcats in a 7 p.m. matchup.

The 69th all-time meeting between the Johnnies (13-7, 6-3 BIG EAST) and the Wildcats (11-9, 5-4 BIG EAST) will be available to live stream on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) with Matt Martucci and Sean Saint Jacques on the call from Villanova.

Through nine BIG EAST games, St. John's sits in a three-way tie for second with Marquette and Butler as all three programs are boasting a 6-3 record. No. 11/12 DePaul leads the pack with a program-best 9-0 record.

The Red Storm rides into Villanova on the heels of a three-game winning streak, downing Providence and Creighton at home before earning a road victory over Seton Hall on Sunday at Walsh Gymnasium. With the win over the Pirates, the Johnnies jumped up to 42 in the NCAA women's basketball RPI.

The Johnnies enter Sunday's contest with Villanova following the program's best shooting effort under the direction of Head Coach Joe Tartamella. In last Sunday's contest with the Pirates, the Johnnies converted on 31 of their 50 shots from the floor for a season-high 62 percent clip, just one field goal shy of tying the single-game record of 64 percent, which was set back in 1978.

Following 12-straight scoring efforts in double digits, junior guard Qadashah Hoppie continued to prevail for the Johnnies against the Pirates, eclipsing the 20-point mark for the eighth time this season. The Staten Island native notched seven of her 10 attempts from the floor, draining 5-of-7 from distance. The team's leading scorer this season at 17.3 points per game, Hoppie also shot 43 percent (16-of-37) from the floor during the team's recent three-game winning streak, including a 12-for-15 (47%) showing from three-point range. On the season, Hoppie sits second the BIG EAST in three-point field goals made, knocking down 2.8 per contest.

Hoppie was one of five players to finish in double figures against the Pirates on Sunday evening as Alissa Alston (15 pts), Raven Farley (13 pts), Kadaja Bailey (12 pts) and Alisha Kebbe (11 pts) all turned in 10 or more points en route to the Red Storm's victory.

Friday's matchup will mark the second meeting of the season between the Johnnies and the Wildcats, as Villanova defeated the Red Storm in overtime, 67-62, earlier this month. St. John's will look to split the regular season series with Villanova for the third-consecutive season and pick up its second-straight victory over the Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion.

Villanova is coming off back-to-back setbacks to Marquette and No. 11 DePaul. Despite a pair of losses to close out the first half of conference play, Madison Siegrist, the league's leading scorer at 20.4 points per game, averaged 22.0 points over the two-game stretch for the Wildcats.

Through nine conference contests, Siegrist is averaging a double-double with 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds. Returning senior Mary Gedaka is the only other Wildcat posting double-digit points per game, knocking in 17.2.

As a team, Villanova paces the conference in blocked shots (85) and personal fouls per game (13.8). However, the Wildcats rank last in total steals (105) and turnovers forced per outing (11.7).

Following Friday's meeting with the Wildcats, the Red Storm will close out its three-game road swing with a trip to our nation's capital for a showdown with the Georgetown Hoyas on Sunday at 2 p.m.

St. John's Kicks off Road Swing at Villanova on Friday

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Players Mentioned

Alissa Alston

Kadaja Bailey

Raven Farley

Qadashah Hoppie

Alisha Kebbe

St. John's University Athletics