St. John’s Dominates Second Half, Takes Down Butler, 60-42

Wednesday, January 17

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

11-8,5-2Big East

Butler

8-9,0-6Big East

Butler

St. John's (NY)

St. John’s Dominates Second Half, Takes Down Butler, 60-42

1/17/2024 10:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Red Storm held the Bulldogs scoreless for 7:44 in the fourth quarter

QUEENS, N.Y.– The St. John's women's basketball team dominated the second half to cruise to a 60-42 victory on Wednesday night over Butler.

The Red Storm defense held the Bulldogs to just 16 points in the latter half and held the Bulldogs scoreless for 7:44 during the fourth quarter to advance to 5-2 in BIG EAST play. Butler was held to just zero second chance points.

St. John's (11-8, 5-2 BIG EAST) was led by a balanced scoring attack as all seven players that played significant minutes scored five points or more with three finishing in double-figures. The Johnnies shot a season-best 52.1 percent (25-48) from the field.

Ber'Nyah Mayo finished in double-figures for the third-consecutive game at Carnesecca Arena. The senior point guard finished with 12 points and chipped in two steals.

Jailah Donald had a career night matching all-time bests in points and rebounding. The Inglewood, Calif., native netted 12 points on 5-fo-7 shooting and pulled down six boards.

Jillian Archer was the third Johnnie to score in double-figures logging 10 points and recorded a game-high seven rebounds.

Phoenix Gedeon chipped in a season-high eight points on 3-of-4 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.

The Red Storm improve to 6-1 at Carnesecca Arena this season and have won 21 of the last 24 contest at its on-campus home.

Mayo drilled a 3-pointer to start the scoring for the Johnnies. Then Unique Drake cashed in from long-range before Donald hit the third-straight 3-pointer as the Red Storm scored its first nine points from beyond-the-arc. A Butler (8-9, 0-6 BIG EAST) triple from Norman gave the visitors their first lead of the game, 15-12. In the final minute, Drake finished an off-balance lay-up amidst traffic in the lane. Butler held a one-point lead after the opening 10 minutes, 15-14.

In the second quarter, the Johnnies retook control after an and-one from Skye Owen gave them a 19-17 edge. The Red Storm made four consecutive field goals capped off by a Mayo floater to take a seven-point lead, 30-23. Rachel Kent flushed a triple from the top of the key to make it 30-26 going into the halftime break.

In the third quarter, Donald rattled home a corner shot clock as it expired to jumpstart the Johnnies offensive efforts. The Red Storm continued to stretch its advantage with an and-one from Mayo. After the Bulldogs trimmed it back to five, 36-31, an Archer and one started an explosion for St. John's. A Donald putback with one second remaining concluded a 13-2 scoring spurt and gave the Red Storm its largest lead of the night to that point, 48-33.

After Butler scored the first five points of the final quarter to trim the deficit to 10, 48-38, the Johnnies took over the game starting off with a floater from Mayo. That set off a 12-0 run for the Red Storm that put the game out of the balance and a Gedeon spinning finish brought the lead to as many as 22, 60-38. The defense held Butler scoreless for 7:44 and forced five turnovers during that span.

St. John's will have a five-day break before crossing the river to face Seton Hall on national television on Monday. The Red Storm and Pirates will tip-off from Walsh Gymnasium at 6:30 p.m. on FS1.