St. John's University Athletics
Thursday, November 16
Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)
7 p.m.
St. John's University
1-2,0-0Big East
53
vs
69
Penn State
4-0,0-0Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Penn St.
8
15
23
23
69
St. John's (NY)
11
15
13
14
53
St. John’s Drops Contest with Penn State
11/16/2023 10:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Red Storm led at halftime, 26-23
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's women's basketball team led at halftime against Penn State but was outlasted in the latter half and fell, 69-53.
A Penn State offense that was ranked top-10 nationally averaging 97.3 points per game coming into the game was held to just 69 points and only 23 in the opening half.
Ber'Nyah Mayo had a game-high 16 points on Thursday night. The senior guard chipped in five assists and three steals. The UMass transfer tied a career-high six makes from the charity stripe going a perfect 100 percent from the free-throw line.
Jillian Archer had her second double-double in her first three contests finishing the night with 10 points and 11 boards.
Unique Drake added 11 points on the night. The guard is averaging 20.7 points on the year.
The contest started off in a defensive stalemate as the score read 2-2 at the first media timeout with 4:51 left in the first. The Johnnies defense was swarming and created six takeaways in that span.
St. John's (1-2) took its first lead of the game off a Skye Owen triple as the sophomore buried one off a dish from Amber Brown to make it 7-4.
The Red Storm defense caused eight turnovers and held the Lady Lions to 36.4 percent (4-11) shooting in the opening quarter to take a 11-8 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
In the following quarter, after the Lady Lions took the lead, Owen drilled another a corner triple on a crosscourt feed from Mayo to regain the advantage, 14-12.
After St. John's took a 18-14 lead Penn State spurred 7-0 run that was halted by a crafty step-back mid-range jumper from Mayo to make it 21-20.
In the waning seconds of the half, Brown drove to the basket and laid one off the glass to make it, 26-23, at the halftime break.
Penn State started off strong in the latter stanza with a 7-0 run to start the third quarter. Brown took it herself as the shot clock dwindled and rattled home a pull-up jumper to stop the run and pull within a basket, 30-28.
The third quarter remained closely contested as the two sides battled. As Penn State (4-0) tried to get out on the break Mayo made an impressive interception and immediately tossed a long-pass to Archer at the other end for an easy lay-in. The Lady Lions' Taylor Valladay responded with the final made basket a three-pointer stretch the advantage to 46-39 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, Penn State opened up the scoring with a made jumper from its leading scorer and All-Big Ten First Team selection Makenna Marisa. The Johnnies clawed back with a momentum-swinging and-one from Mayo on a hard drive to the lane.
With under eight minutes to play, a pair of jumpers from Drake including a long two cut the deficit to four, 50-46, and put the Red Storm within striking distance. The Lady Lions proceeded to rattle off an 8-0 run and control the remainder of the contest to move to 4-0 on the year.
St. John's will have a quick turnaround with another home contest on Sunday when it welcomes Manhattan for a 2 p.m. contest at Carnesecca Arena.
A Penn State offense that was ranked top-10 nationally averaging 97.3 points per game coming into the game was held to just 69 points and only 23 in the opening half.
Ber'Nyah Mayo had a game-high 16 points on Thursday night. The senior guard chipped in five assists and three steals. The UMass transfer tied a career-high six makes from the charity stripe going a perfect 100 percent from the free-throw line.
Jillian Archer had her second double-double in her first three contests finishing the night with 10 points and 11 boards.
Unique Drake added 11 points on the night. The guard is averaging 20.7 points on the year.
The contest started off in a defensive stalemate as the score read 2-2 at the first media timeout with 4:51 left in the first. The Johnnies defense was swarming and created six takeaways in that span.
St. John's (1-2) took its first lead of the game off a Skye Owen triple as the sophomore buried one off a dish from Amber Brown to make it 7-4.
The Red Storm defense caused eight turnovers and held the Lady Lions to 36.4 percent (4-11) shooting in the opening quarter to take a 11-8 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
In the following quarter, after the Lady Lions took the lead, Owen drilled another a corner triple on a crosscourt feed from Mayo to regain the advantage, 14-12.
After St. John's took a 18-14 lead Penn State spurred 7-0 run that was halted by a crafty step-back mid-range jumper from Mayo to make it 21-20.
In the waning seconds of the half, Brown drove to the basket and laid one off the glass to make it, 26-23, at the halftime break.
Penn State started off strong in the latter stanza with a 7-0 run to start the third quarter. Brown took it herself as the shot clock dwindled and rattled home a pull-up jumper to stop the run and pull within a basket, 30-28.
The third quarter remained closely contested as the two sides battled. As Penn State (4-0) tried to get out on the break Mayo made an impressive interception and immediately tossed a long-pass to Archer at the other end for an easy lay-in. The Lady Lions' Taylor Valladay responded with the final made basket a three-pointer stretch the advantage to 46-39 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, Penn State opened up the scoring with a made jumper from its leading scorer and All-Big Ten First Team selection Makenna Marisa. The Johnnies clawed back with a momentum-swinging and-one from Mayo on a hard drive to the lane.
With under eight minutes to play, a pair of jumpers from Drake including a long two cut the deficit to four, 50-46, and put the Red Storm within striking distance. The Lady Lions proceeded to rattle off an 8-0 run and control the remainder of the contest to move to 4-0 on the year.
St. John's will have a quick turnaround with another home contest on Sunday when it welcomes Manhattan for a 2 p.m. contest at Carnesecca Arena.
Team Stats
PSU
SJU
FG%
.508
.382
3FG%
.600
.214
FT%
.750
.800
RB
34
29
TO
17
16
STL
10
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's Basketball
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