St. John’s Falls to Villanova, 81-78, in Overtime

Monday, January 25

Villanova, Pa. (Finneran Pavilion)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

4-9,1-7Big East

Villanova University

9-2,4-2Big East

OT 1

St. John's (NY)

Villanova

St. John’s Falls to Villanova, 81-78, in Overtime

1/25/2021 10:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Leilani Correa led the Red Storm in scoring with 29 points

By: Victoria Lanza

Trailing Villanova by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter, the St. John's women's basketball team closed the gap with a 22-5 run to force overtime. The Red Storm's miraculous comeback fell short in the end, however, as the Wildcats utilized clutch free throw shooting in the extra period to hold off the Johnnies, 81-78.

Leilani Correa was the engine behind the Red Storm's fourth quarter surge, scoring 11 of her game-high 29 points in the final 8:10 of regulation.

Unique Drake shattered a career-high for points against the Wildcats. The Columbia, S.C., native finished with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. Drake also tied Correa with a team-most five assists.

Kadaja Bailey notched her first double-double of the season and the third of her Red Storm career. The Long Beach, N.Y., native recorded 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor, to go along with a career-best 14 rebounds. She also registered two assists and two steals in 45 minutes of action.

Both teams got off to a slow start offensively, as Villanova (9-2, 4-2 BIG EAST) led by three,10-7, at the first media timeout. Coming out of the huddle, both programs went without a bucket for nearly two minutes before Rayven Peeples finished at the rim to pull the Red Storm (4-9, 1-7 BIG EAST) within one, 10-9. With under 60 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, Villanova's Lior Garzon drained a three to put the Wildcats ahead by four, 13-9, after 10 minutes of action.

Villanova opened up the second stanza with a pair of layups, growing its advantage to eight, 17-9. The two teams traded blows over the next 45 seconds before the Wildcats used a 9-0 run to expand their lead to 16, 29-13, with just over five minutes remaining in the half.

With the Wildcats leading by as many as 18, 36-18, and just under four minutes to play in the second quarter, St. John's began to chip away at the score. The Johnnies managed to trim their deficit down to 13, 40-27, at the intermission.

St. John's continued to cut into the Wildcats' lead in the early minutes of the third quarter, using a 12-4 run to get back within single digits, 51-43, with 4:18 remaining in the period. Villanova fired off five-straight points down the stretch to lead, 56-43, heading into the final frame.

The home team ballooned their lead to 17 a minute and a half into the fourth quarter before the Johnnies uncorked a 22-5 run to knot the game at 65 and force the extra period. With three ticks on the clock, Bailey made a drive to the glass for the game-tying basket.

Garzon converted on a triple for the Wildcats to open up the extra period and put Villanova ahead by three, 68-65. The Johnnies responded with a 5-2 run to knot the score at 70 with under three minutes to play. That was as close as the Red Storm would get, as Villanova sealed the victory.

The Red Storm will return to action on Wednesday when the team travels to our nation's capital for a 4 p.m. showdown with Georgetown.