St. John’s Fourth Quarter Surge Falls Short at Fairfield, 67-62

Thursday, December 7

Fairfield, Conn. (Leo D. Mahoney Arena)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

4-6,0-0Big East

Fairfield

6-1,0-0MAAC

St. John's (NY)

Fairfield

Unique Drake creates separation from a defender by executing a crossover.

St. John’s Fourth Quarter Surge Falls Short at Fairfield, 67-62

12/7/2023 10:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Unique Drake led all scorers for the eighth time this season, finished with 21 points

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The St. John's women's basketball team outscored Fairfield 24-15 in the fourth quarter but its late surge fell short, 67-62, on Thursday night.

The Red Storm ended the game on a 12-3 scoring run over the final 2:35 but the deficit was too much to overcome.

For the eighth time in 10 games, Unique Drake led all players in scoring recording 21 points at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. The redshirt senior went for 20-plus points for the fifth time this season and added three steals.

Jayda Brown provided an energetic boost off the bench adding 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting over a span of just 4:39 of gameplay.

Jillian Archer was the third and final Red Storm player to finish in double-figures chipping in __ on 5-of-7 shooting. The graduate student led the team in rebounding with seven boards.

Ber'Nyah Mayo matched a season-high with seven assists in Connecticut. The senior added 8 points, six coming on made free throws and three steals.

The Red Storm once again racked up takeaways on Thursday night causing 21 Fairfield turnovers. This was the fifth time this season a St. John's opponent has turned the ball over 20 times or more.

In the first quarter, Fairfield started off the game shooting the lights out and jumped out to an early advantage it never relinquished. The Stags shot 69.2 percent (9-13) and 75 percent (6-8) from 3-point range and held a 24-13 lead after the first 10 minutes.

In the next quarter, the Stags continued to hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the frame. Brown entered the game and added a sparkplug for the Johnnies in the closing minutes of the opening half. She picked off a pass then finished the easy lay-in on the other end. The rookie found the bottom of the net once again burying a triple off a pass from Jailah Donald in the corner for a quick 5-0 solo run to bring the Stags lead to nine, 35-26. The Stags tallied the final basket of the opening half to bring an 11-point advantage, 37-26, into the locker room.

In the third frame, Brown opened the offensive effort with a 3-pointer before a basket in the paint by Archer quickly trimmed the Fairfield advantage to eight, 39-31. The Stags responded and converted offensively to balloon its lead back to 14 by the end of the third stanza, 52-38.

In the final quarter, the Red Storm began to crawl back into the contest after a mid-range jumper along the baseline from Tara Daye trimmed the deficit to as few as seven, 64-57. After forcing a missed 3-pointer, Mayo grabbed onto a loose ball to get the tie up to go the Johnnies way. After Drake missed a driving lay-in, St. John's was forced to send Fairfield to the line. Drake nailed a 3-pointer the next time down to make it 66-60. After splitting from the charity stripe, one more basket from the game's leading scorer trimmed the deficit to five, 67-62. With only three seconds to spare, Fairfield dribbled out the clock to advance to 6-1 on the season.

St. John's (4-6) has concluded its two-game road trip and will return to Carnesecca Arena to face Rhode Island on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.