St. John’s Edged by Villanova in Overtime, 67-62

Sunday, January 5

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

2:00 p.m.

St. John's University

10-5,3-1Big East

Villanova

8-6,3-1Big East

OT 1

Villanova

St. John's (NY)

1/5/2020 6:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Villanova Postgame Press Conference

Tiana England finishes with 21 points and nine boards against the Wildcats

By: Victoria Lanza

The St. John's women's basketball team saw its perfect start to BIG EAST play come to an end on Sunday afternoon, as the Johnnies fell to Villanova, 67-62, in overtime at Carnesecca Arena.

With Villanova (8-6, 3-1 BIG EAST) leading by one possession, 56-54, and just over 30 seconds left to play in regulation, Tiana England intercepted an inbound pass. The redshirt junior then made a drive to the basket, locking the score at 56 and sending both teams into overtime.

In the extra frame, Villanova's Bridget Herlihy and Mary Gedaka banked in the first two buckets of the session to take a 60-56 lead. Alissa Alston and England answered for the Red Storm with back-to-back fast break layups to tie the contest at 60 with under two minutes to play. Thirty seconds later, Herlihy pulled up in the paint and the Wildcats regained the lead, 62-60. With 40 ticks to play in extra time, Raven Farley found the bottom of the net to knot the score for the fourth time in under nine minutes before Villanova used a 5-0 run to seal the victory.

England led St. John's (10-5, 3-1 BIG EAST) in scoring and fell just shy of a double-double with 21 points and nine rebounds on the afternoon. The Stamford, Conn., native also dished out a team-high six assists to go along with one steal.

For the 14th time this season and the eighth-straight game, Qadashah Hoppie finished in double-figures with 14 points. Hoppie converted on four of her eight tries from three-point range while also grabbing five boards against the Wildcats.

Alston rounded out double-digit scoring for St. John's with 10 points. The redshirt senior also recorded three caroms and three steals in 37 minutes of action.

St. John's sank the first two field goals out of the gate, taking an early 5-0 lead. The Wildcats responded, converting on a pair of shots from three-point range to put Villanova ahead, 6-5.

The visiting team's lead was short lived, as England and Leilani Correa pieced together an 11-0 run. The Johnnies' offensive surge gave them an early double-digit lead, 16-6, with under four minutes left to play in the first frame.

Villanova began to chip away at St. John's lead in the minutes to come. The Wildcats outscored St. John's, 8-3, down the stretch, cutting their deficit in half, 19-14, after 10 minutes of action.

The Wildcats drained a shot from distance to start the second quarter, making it a one possession game, 19-17. Before Villanova could get any closer, Hoppie pulled up for a jumper that kick started an 11-2 streak for the Johnnies. Alston closed out St. John's run by draining a shot from downtown to build the Red Storm's lead back up to 11, 30-19, with just over three minutes left in the half.

Villanova outscored the Johnnies, 6-2, over the final three minutes to get back within seven, 32-25, at the intermission.

England paced the way for the Red Storm at the half with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. The redshirt junior also pulled down five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.

Coming out of the locker room, the two teams traded blows with the Red Storm holding on to a five-point lead, 40-35, at the midway mark of the third stanza.

The Johnnies and the Wildcats continued to battle over the next few minutes until Villanova rattled off seven unanswered points to knot the score at 44 after 30 minutes of play. The Wildcats' late push was capped off by a buzzer-beating three off the hands of Madison Siegrist.

The two teams played evenly matched over the final 10 minutes of regulation, knocking down 12 points apiece to tie the game at 56 and send them into overtime.

The Wildcats outscored the Johnnies, 11-6, in extra time to come away with the win.

The Johnnies will return to action on Friday when they begin a two-game road swing in Milwaukee against Marquette at 8 p.m. ET, before closing the trip at No. 16/17 DePaul on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.