St. John's University Athletics
Saturday, December 16
New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
6 p.m.
St. John's University
6-6,1-0Big East
51
vs
46
Villanova
6-5,0-1Big East
1
2
3
4
F
Villanova
9
13
15
9
46
St. John's (NY)
15
4
15
17
51
St. John’s Wins Battle at Madison Square Garden Over Villanova, 51-46
12/16/2023 10:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Jailah Donald buried a huge 3-pointer with 1:21 left to play to lift the Red Storm to a BIG EAST win
NEW YORK– The St. John's women's basketball team clawed out a thrilling victory over Villanova, 51-46, to open BIG EAST play at Madison Square Garden.
The Red Storm held the Wildcats without a made field goal for the final 7:05 and closed out a crucial victory. The contest was team's first inside the "World's Most Famous Arena" in four years and the Johnnies played the final in the Holiday Festival tripleheader.
With the win, the Red Storm snapped a nine-game losing streak to its conference foe dating back to 2019 and won its conference opener for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Jillian Archer had a monster game inside The Garden totaling season high's with 15 points and 14 rebounds. The graduate student was efficient from the field shooting 7-for-8 from the floor en route to her fourth double-double of the season.
Unique Drake led the Johnnies with 16 points on Saturday night. She matched Villanova's Bella Runyan for the game-high in points, for the 10th time in 12 games this season.
Jailah Donald finished in double-figures with 12 points and drilled the clutch 3-pointer to put the Red Storm up four with 1:21 left to play.
Tara Daye played stellar defensively and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds and chipped in five points.
The nation's third leading scorer coming into, Lucy Olsen was held to nine points and shot 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) by the stifling Red Storm defense. St. John's held Villanova (6-5, 0-1 BIG EAST) to 30.4 percent (17-for-56) from the floor and 18.2 percent (4-for-22) from 3-point range.
The Red Storm started off the game in front after two baskets inside from Archer.
Drake curled around and knocked down her 35th triple of the 2023 campaign. The 9-0 run was capped off by a Donald banked 3-pointer to cap off a 9-0 scoring spurt. The Johnnies ended the opening quarter with a six-point advantage, 15-9.
In a defensive-minded second quarter, the Wildcats chipped into the lead and eventually took control after three straight lay-ins from Kaitlyn Orihel gave the visitors a three-point edge at the halftime break, 22-19.
In the third quarter, Ber'Nyah Mayo quickly burst to the rim for a bucket just 18 seconds into the third frame. The two sides went back-and-forth in the third stanza Drake buried a corner triple to retake the lead, 28-26, ending a 7-0 run. Runyan traded back a 3-pointer to hop back in front. The Wildcats scored six straight points to take its largest lead of the day, 37-31, before a Drake triple trimmed the deficit to three at the conclusion of 30 minutes.
The two conference foes continued to battle in the final frame. Two mid-range jumpers from Drake and Donald put the Red Storm in front in a game that saw 14 lead changes. Daye provided a huge momentum playing battling for an offensive board and finishing a lay-up in traffic to make it, 40-39. Villanova's Olsen buried a 3-pointer with 7:05 remaining that marked the final made field goal for the visitors in Midtown Manhattan.
With both teams struggling to score and the Johnnies clinging to a one-point lead, 45-44, Drake dished to Donald, who buried a big time triple from the top of the key to put the Red Storm up four, 48-44, with 1:21 to play.
With 30 seconds to Villanova had the ball down two and Archer came up with a huge defensive stand denying the potential game-tying shot with a block that gave the Red Storm possession. Mayo split at the charity stripe to give St. John's a three-point lead, 49-46, and another stop and made free throws from Donald secured a conference opening victory at Madison Square Garden.
The Red Storm will close its non-conference schedule on Dec. 21 at Yale for a noon tip in New Haven, Conn.
The Red Storm held the Wildcats without a made field goal for the final 7:05 and closed out a crucial victory. The contest was team's first inside the "World's Most Famous Arena" in four years and the Johnnies played the final in the Holiday Festival tripleheader.
With the win, the Red Storm snapped a nine-game losing streak to its conference foe dating back to 2019 and won its conference opener for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Jillian Archer had a monster game inside The Garden totaling season high's with 15 points and 14 rebounds. The graduate student was efficient from the field shooting 7-for-8 from the floor en route to her fourth double-double of the season.
Unique Drake led the Johnnies with 16 points on Saturday night. She matched Villanova's Bella Runyan for the game-high in points, for the 10th time in 12 games this season.
Jailah Donald finished in double-figures with 12 points and drilled the clutch 3-pointer to put the Red Storm up four with 1:21 left to play.
Tara Daye played stellar defensively and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds and chipped in five points.
The nation's third leading scorer coming into, Lucy Olsen was held to nine points and shot 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) by the stifling Red Storm defense. St. John's held Villanova (6-5, 0-1 BIG EAST) to 30.4 percent (17-for-56) from the floor and 18.2 percent (4-for-22) from 3-point range.
The Red Storm started off the game in front after two baskets inside from Archer.
Drake curled around and knocked down her 35th triple of the 2023 campaign. The 9-0 run was capped off by a Donald banked 3-pointer to cap off a 9-0 scoring spurt. The Johnnies ended the opening quarter with a six-point advantage, 15-9.
In a defensive-minded second quarter, the Wildcats chipped into the lead and eventually took control after three straight lay-ins from Kaitlyn Orihel gave the visitors a three-point edge at the halftime break, 22-19.
In the third quarter, Ber'Nyah Mayo quickly burst to the rim for a bucket just 18 seconds into the third frame. The two sides went back-and-forth in the third stanza Drake buried a corner triple to retake the lead, 28-26, ending a 7-0 run. Runyan traded back a 3-pointer to hop back in front. The Wildcats scored six straight points to take its largest lead of the day, 37-31, before a Drake triple trimmed the deficit to three at the conclusion of 30 minutes.
The two conference foes continued to battle in the final frame. Two mid-range jumpers from Drake and Donald put the Red Storm in front in a game that saw 14 lead changes. Daye provided a huge momentum playing battling for an offensive board and finishing a lay-up in traffic to make it, 40-39. Villanova's Olsen buried a 3-pointer with 7:05 remaining that marked the final made field goal for the visitors in Midtown Manhattan.
With both teams struggling to score and the Johnnies clinging to a one-point lead, 45-44, Drake dished to Donald, who buried a big time triple from the top of the key to put the Red Storm up four, 48-44, with 1:21 to play.
With 30 seconds to Villanova had the ball down two and Archer came up with a huge defensive stand denying the potential game-tying shot with a block that gave the Red Storm possession. Mayo split at the charity stripe to give St. John's a three-point lead, 49-46, and another stop and made free throws from Donald secured a conference opening victory at Madison Square Garden.
The Red Storm will close its non-conference schedule on Dec. 21 at Yale for a noon tip in New Haven, Conn.
Team Stats
VU
SJU
FG%
.304
.392
3FG%
.182
.250
FT%
1.000
.545
RB
29
43
TO
6
13
STL
4
0
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
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