St. John's University Athletics

St. John’s Sails Past Yale Behind 30-Point Outing from Drake, 75-56
12/21/2023 3:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Drake becomes sixth player in program history to tally two 30-point games in a season
NEW HAVEN, Conn.– The St. John's women's basketball team has won five of its last six contests after sailing past Yale, 75-56, in New Haven, Conn.
The Red Storm were trailing by five in the second frame before engineering a 20-6 run to end the half and never looked back.
Unique Drake led the charge with her second 30-point performance of the season matching the career-high she set on Nov. 19 against Manhattan. The redshirt senior went 10-for-19 from the floor and made a personal best eight free throws on nine attempts. Drake becomes the sixth player in program history to tally two 30-point games in a single-season.
Ber'Nyah Mayo was the other Red Storm player to finish in double-figures logging 11 points and a team-high four assists.
Jillian Archer quickly tallied eight points and five rebounds before leaving the game with an injury in the second quarter.
Neveah Wingate and Tyonna Bailey each scored their first collegiate baskets and Julie Bahati made her debut in the second quarter.
For the seventh time this year, the Johnnies defense for their opponents into 20 or more turnovers. St. John's capitalized with 31 points off turnovers. The Red Storm took care of the ball itself only committing a season-low five turnovers.
St. John's shot exemplary from the charity stripe making a season-high 21 free throws. The squad cashed in on 21-of-24 attempts from the line (87.5 percent).
The Red Storm started off well offensively cashing in on six of its first nine attempts, but Yale kept pace in the opening quarter as the two sides traded baskets. Overall, the Johnnies shot 61.5 percent (8-13) from the field in the opening frame but Yale led by two, 23-20, after the initial 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, Drake swung the momentum with a made a 3-pointer the consecutive game and then hit a pair of free throws to complete a 5-0 individual scoring spurt and tie the game at 25. With 4:22 left in the half, it was Drake again from beyond-the-arc off a feed from Archer to regain the edge, 30-29. The reigning BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year continued to find her groove nailing two more jumpers to stretch the lead and record 16 points in the opening half. In the final minute of the second stanza, Bailey and Wingate tallied their first collegiate points to give the Red Storm a nine-point lead, 40-31, heading into the locker room.
In the third quarter, the Red Storm tallied its first 11 points of the stanza from the charity stripe. Skye Owen nailed a 3-pointer from the corner and absorbed the contact, she converted at the free-throw line to give the Johnnies their largest lead of the afternoon up to that point, 57-45. Mayo registered the final bucket of the frame with a fancy scooping lay-up in traffic to make the score line, 59-46 heading into the fourth.
The Red Storm held onto the double-digit advantage in the final 10 minutes as Drake continued to fill it up. The Columbia, S.C., native recorded nine points in the fourth quarter and finished a lay-in to match her career-high of 30 points. Drake is now averaging 20.0 points on the year.
The Red Storm will return to the floor after Christmas to take on No. 21 Creighton in Omaha on Dec. 30 at 5 p.m. ET.
The Red Storm were trailing by five in the second frame before engineering a 20-6 run to end the half and never looked back.
Unique Drake led the charge with her second 30-point performance of the season matching the career-high she set on Nov. 19 against Manhattan. The redshirt senior went 10-for-19 from the floor and made a personal best eight free throws on nine attempts. Drake becomes the sixth player in program history to tally two 30-point games in a single-season.
Ber'Nyah Mayo was the other Red Storm player to finish in double-figures logging 11 points and a team-high four assists.
Jillian Archer quickly tallied eight points and five rebounds before leaving the game with an injury in the second quarter.
Neveah Wingate and Tyonna Bailey each scored their first collegiate baskets and Julie Bahati made her debut in the second quarter.
For the seventh time this year, the Johnnies defense for their opponents into 20 or more turnovers. St. John's capitalized with 31 points off turnovers. The Red Storm took care of the ball itself only committing a season-low five turnovers.
St. John's shot exemplary from the charity stripe making a season-high 21 free throws. The squad cashed in on 21-of-24 attempts from the line (87.5 percent).
The Red Storm started off well offensively cashing in on six of its first nine attempts, but Yale kept pace in the opening quarter as the two sides traded baskets. Overall, the Johnnies shot 61.5 percent (8-13) from the field in the opening frame but Yale led by two, 23-20, after the initial 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, Drake swung the momentum with a made a 3-pointer the consecutive game and then hit a pair of free throws to complete a 5-0 individual scoring spurt and tie the game at 25. With 4:22 left in the half, it was Drake again from beyond-the-arc off a feed from Archer to regain the edge, 30-29. The reigning BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year continued to find her groove nailing two more jumpers to stretch the lead and record 16 points in the opening half. In the final minute of the second stanza, Bailey and Wingate tallied their first collegiate points to give the Red Storm a nine-point lead, 40-31, heading into the locker room.
In the third quarter, the Red Storm tallied its first 11 points of the stanza from the charity stripe. Skye Owen nailed a 3-pointer from the corner and absorbed the contact, she converted at the free-throw line to give the Johnnies their largest lead of the afternoon up to that point, 57-45. Mayo registered the final bucket of the frame with a fancy scooping lay-up in traffic to make the score line, 59-46 heading into the fourth.
The Red Storm held onto the double-digit advantage in the final 10 minutes as Drake continued to fill it up. The Columbia, S.C., native recorded nine points in the fourth quarter and finished a lay-in to match her career-high of 30 points. Drake is now averaging 20.0 points on the year.
The Red Storm will return to the floor after Christmas to take on No. 21 Creighton in Omaha on Dec. 30 at 5 p.m. ET.
Team Stats
SJU
Yale
FG%
.455
.471
3FG%
.308
.000
FT%
.875
.889
RB
25
30
TO
8
20
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Players Mentioned
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