St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Providence
St. John's Readies for Road Clash with Friars
1/13/2022 9:49:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Red Storm continues BIG EAST play with a contest at Providence.
QUEENS, N.Y. (Jan. 13, 2022) - The St. John's women's basketball team returns to BIG EAST action as the squad hits the road for a contest against Providence at Alumni Hall on Friday, Jan. 13.
Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network with Mike Mancuso and Ali Jaques on the call.
The Red Storm (5-8, 1-2 BIG EAST) returns to the court following a 12-day hiatus resulting from a pair of cancelations due to COVID-19 protocols. The Red Storm's Jan. 7 game against Xavier has been rescheduled to a Feb. 2 at Carnesecca Arena at 6 p.m. A makeup date for the game against Butler, originally scheduled for Jan. 9, has not yet been announced.
In the team's last outing on Jan. 2, the Red Storm dropped a hard-fought battle on the road at Villanova, 70-68. A pair of Johnnies tallied double-doubles during the loss. Leilani Correa led the team with 20 points and tacked on 10 rebounds. Rayven Peeples returned to the lineup after a 10-game absence, going 5-for-10 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe for 13 points. She also added 11 rebounds, tying her season high and completing her second double-double of the campaign.
Head Coach Joe Tartamella enters the game with a record of 175-123 in his 10th season leading the Red Storm, one victory shy of tying his mentor, Kim Barnes Arico, for first place on the program's all-time wins list. Tartamella spent nine seasons on Barnes Arico's staff, starting as a graduate assistant in 2002 before serving three years as an assistant coach and four seasons as the program's associate head coach. Tartamella has been to six postseasons as the Red Storm's head coach, including a trio of NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2016, his Johnnies won the program's first BIG EAST title since 1988.
St. John's sits second in the BIG EAST in scoring offense with 83.0 points per game in conference play. The squad also leads the league lead in field goal percentage at 50.0 percent. Individually, Correa paces the conference with 26.3 points per game against BIG EAST opponents. The junior is one point away from becoming the 27th player in St. John's history to reach the 1,000-point mark in red and white. The Manchester, N.J., native also ranks third in the league with 9.0 rebounds per game.
Providence (7-7, 2-3 BIG EAST) comes into the contest following a 54-49 win over Xavier on Tuesday night in Cincinnati. During the victory, the Friars shot 36.0 percent from the floor but held Xavier to just a 24.2 percent clip.
The Friars also held a 44-39 advantage on the boards and blocked a season-high 11 shots. Entering the contest, Providence leads the league and ranks fifth nationally with 6.6 blocks per game.
This season, junior guard Janai Croooms leads the Friars in a pair of categories, as the junior boasts 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per outing. The Cranston, R.I., native ranks second in the conference with 10.8 boards per contest against league opponents. Freshman Olivia Olsen is second in the league for field goal percentage, as the forward is shooting 77.3 percent from the field through five BIG EAST games.
Friday will mark the 75th meeting all-time between the Red Storm and the Friars, a series in which the Johnnies hold a 43-31 advantage overall and a 21-12 edge in games played at Providence. The Red Storm won 14 straight contests against the Friars from 2008-17, but Providence has come away with the victory in five of their last meetings since that streak ended.
St. John's will remain on the road for its next BIG EAST battle, as the team heads to Omaha for a showdown with Creighton on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off from D.J. Sokol Arena is set for 2 p.m. ET on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
