St. John’s Edges Butler, 67-65

Wednesday, January 25

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

7 P.M.

St. John's University

17-3,8-3Big East

Butler

7-14,2-10Big East

Butler

St. John's (NY)

1/25/2023 11:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Red Storm break program record with 13th-straight win at Carnesecca Arena

QUEENS, N.Y.- The St. John's women's basketball team edged out Butler, 67-65, overcoming an eight-point deficit in the third quarter.

The victory marked the 13^th consecutive win inside Carnesecca Arena, breaking the all-time record set during the 1977-78 and 2009-10 seasons.

The Johnnies were down 49-41 with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter and rallied to advance to 8-3 in BIG EAST play, the best start to league competition since 2013-14.

Another record was broken in Queens, with tonight's start, Kadaja Bailey shattered the school record for most career games played, making her 135^th appearance, the most by any player in St. John's men's and women's basketball history. The Long Beach, N.Y., native surpassed former Johnnie Aaliyah Lewis, who played in 134 contests from 2013-17.

Unique Drake led all scorers on Wednesday finishing with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Over her last two games, the senior has poured in 17.5 points and shot 15-for-22 (68.1) percent from the floor. The Columbia, S.C., native led the team in the assist department, totaling four on the night.

Rayven Peeples logged a solid outing adding 10 points, six rebounds and three assists. The forward excelled on the defensive end of the floor and put a halt to the Bulldogs potential game-winner as time expired.

On her record-breaking night, Bailey contributed 12 points and six boards in the winning effort. Jayla Everett went 3-for-3 from three-point land, highlighted by a crucial make to put the Red Storm ahead, 64-60 with 1:39 left in the game.

For the second time in three games, St. John's (17-3, 8-3 BIG EAST) shot above 50 percent from the floor. The Red Storm went a season-best 27-for-51 (52.9 percent) from field goal range in the winning effort.

In an even contest through the first quarter, Mimi Reid sunk an open triple off a feed from Drake with 0:14 remaining in the opening frame to make it 19-15.

After the Bulldogs retook the lead in the second quarter, 22-21, the Johnnies orchestrated a 7-0 scoring stretch capped off by a hard drive and finish at the rim by Bailey. Butler (7-14, 2-10 BIG EAST) climbed back into it, ending the half strongly to trail by just a basket, 32-30, at the half.

In the latter half, The Bulldogs went off a 10-0 run to take a 49-41 lead that forced a Red Storm timeout with 3:10 left in the third quarter. The squad regrouped and stormed back into it, as a fastbreak and-one from Drake energized an 8-0 run to tie the game.

In the final minute of the third, Danielle Cosgrove provided an enormous boost. Trailing by two, the forward buried a triple off a dish from Bailey to regain the lead. As the third quarter buzzer sounded, Cosgrove rattled home a contested off-balance 3-pointer to take a 55-53 advantage into the final stanza.

In the closing 10 minutes, the contest remained tight all the way to the end. The visitors held a 61-60 edge in the final three minutes, before Drake navigated her way into the paint and sunk a runner to pull back in front. As she has so many times this season, Everett came up huge flushing a 3-point field goal to provide a four-point lead with 1:39 left to play.

The resilient Bulldogs refused to down without a fight, as Shay Frederick knocked down a triple with 30 seconds to go to make it a one-point game. Reid came up clutch at the charity stripe sinking a pair of free-throw's on the ensuing offensive possession.

In the following sequence, Butler converted a bucket in the paint and Danielle Patterson split at the line with score at 67-65 with 0:10 remaining. The Bulldogs had an opportunity to tie or take the lead but stout a defensive effort from Peeples forced a Butler miss to seal the deal.

St. John's will be off this weekend and return to the floor on Tuesday to face Seton Hall. The BIG EAST contest is set to tip-off at 7 p.m. and will air on MSG Sports Network.