No. 25 Villanova Mounts Comeback to Beat St. John’s, 64-61

Saturday, January 14

Villanova, Pa. (Finneran Pavilion)

2 P.M.

St. John's University

14-3,5-3Big East

No. 25/RV Villanova

16-3,7-1Big East

Team	1	2	3	4	F
St. John's (NY)	18	21	15	7	61
Villanova	15	12	12	25	64

No. 25 Villanova Mounts Comeback to Beat St. John’s, 64-61

1/14/2023 5:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Jayla Everett scored a team-high 18 points on Saturday afternoon

VILLANOVA, Pa.- No. 25 Villanova mounted a late comeback to defeat St. John's, 64-61, at Finneran Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.

St. John's (14-3, 5-3 BIG EAST) led by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter before a surging Wildcats run to end the game propelled the home side to a victory.

The nation's leading scorer, Villanova's Maddy Siegrist, poured in a game-high 32 points on the afternoon, including 18 in the final frame.

Four Red Storm players finished in double-figures in scoring, led by Jayla Everett, who posted 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting.

Rayven Peeples logged a double-double, her second of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Unique Drake had all 13 of her points in the first half and shot 3-of-4 from three-point land. Kadaja Bailey was the final player to finish in double-digits, scoring 13 In Saturday's narrow setback.

In the opening quarter, the two teams traded blows before Drake notched the final eight St. John's points, capped off by a three-pointer from the point guard as the first quarter clock expired, to make it 18-15.

In the following frame, St. John's began to build a lead that grew to double-digits after a 9-0 scoring stretch. Everett buried a triple and then finished a transition bucket through contact over just a 25 second timeframe. Shortly after, Bailey completed the run with a wide-open three-pointer at off a feed from Peeples.

The Red Storm went to the locker room with a double-digit lead, 39-27. The squad shot a stellar 66.7 percent from beyond-the-arc in the first 20 minutes.

In a hard-fought third quarter, Everett found Archer through a tight window for an easy lay-in early in the third to open the second half scoring.
With 3:12 left in the third, Maddie Burke drained a 3-pointer to bring the deficit back to eight, before Everett, Peeples and Bailey responded with clutch baskets to orchestrate a quick 6-0 run.

After a slow start offensively in the fourth for both teams, Everett took off on a fastbreak and completed an old-fashioned three-point play to give St. John's a 59-43 advantage with 5:28 to play. Villanova (16-3, 7-1 BIG EAST) began to sway the momentum, as Siegrist recorded an 11-0 run by herself to make it 59-54. Archer emerged from a scrum under the basket with an offensive board and dropped it into the bucket in response.

On the ensuing two Wildcats possessions Burke nailed a pair of three pointers to bring the home squad to within one, 61-60. St. John's turned it over and fouled Siegrist, who sunk both to take Villanova's first lead since the first quarter, 62-61.

The Wildcats made two additional free throws down the stretch to seal a 64-61 victory.

St. John's will be back in action on Wednesday night against Marquette at Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.