St. John's University Athletics
Monday, November 4
Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)
2 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
Saint Peter's
St. John’s Kicks off 50th Anniversary Season against Saint Peter’s on Monday
11/3/2024 1:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Red Storm will tip-off 2024-25 campaign at 2 p.m. inside Carnesecca Arena
QUEENS, N.Y.- The St. John's women's basketball team will kick-off its 50th anniversary season on Monday afternoon when it hosts Saint Peter's at 2 p.m. at Carnesecca Arena.
Monday's season opener will be streamed on FloSports with Kevin Connelly and Edona Thaqi on the call from Queens. Tickets can be purchased here and all fans in attendance will receive a 2024-25 St. John's Women's Basketball poster.
St. John's University celebrates the 50th year of women's basketball in Queens and its long-standing tradition of success. Since its establishment as a varsity sport in 1974, the program has amassed 32 winning seasons, 831 career wins, 11 NCAA Tournaments appearances and four BIG EAST Championships.
Head Coach Joe Tartamella enters his 13th year at the helm and his 22nd overall as a staff member, rising through the ranks after starting as a graduate assistant in 2002. The program's all-time winningest coach holds a career mark of 223-158 (.585) and has guided the program to eight postseason appearances in 11 possible seasons.
The Red Storm comes into the year after its second-straight postseason appearance in 2023-24, advancing in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) and finishing with a 18-15 overall record. In league competition, the Johnnies placed third in the BIG EAST with an 11-7 mark, its highest finish since 2019-20.
In the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll, released during the conference's annual media day at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 23, St. John's was predicted to finish fourth in the league, its highest position since 2020.
Tartamella is set to return eight letterwinners from last year's squad, including four players that started 16 games or more. Ber'Nyah Mayo headlines the group as the graduate student was selected to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team. The point guard made her mark last year in Queens after transferring in from UMass, averaging 10.9 points per game. The Wilmington, Del., native top-10 in the BIG EAST in assists per game (3.5), steals per game (1.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9). Mayo became the first Johnnie since all-time leading scorer Aliyyah Handford in 2015-16 to register more than 300 points, 100 assists, 100 rebounds and 50 steals in a single season.
In addition to Mayo, team captain Jailah Donald, who notched seven double-digit scoring efforts, the team's second leading rebounder in Phoenix Gedeon and lockdown defender Tara Daye are all back in Queens.
Six newcomers joined the Red Storm comprised of four transfers and two highly-touted freshmen. The transfer class brings bundles of experience combining for 347 collegiate appearances. Lashae Dwyer comes over from Miami where she averaged a career-best 6.8 points per game last year and played a role in the Hurricanes' trip to the Elite Eight in 2023. Kylie Lavelle was an All-CAA Rookie Team selection before playing a role off the bench as a sophomore in Penn State's winningest season in a decade in 2023-24. Monmouth transfer Ariana Vanderhoop was a four-year starter with the Hawks and a All-CAA selection while Jade Blagrove ranked top-10 in the MAAC in rebounding at Manhattan.
Freshmen A'riel Little is a top-100 ranked recruit, according to ESPNW HoopGurlz, and the program's highest-rated prospect since Kadaja Bailey in 2018. Janeya Grant is a capable three-level shooter out of Middletown, Conn.
Under Tartamella, St. John's has won seven-straight season openers and are 11-1 during his tenure. The Red Storm has also won its first contest by 30 points or more in each of the last three seasons.
The two programs meet for the 13th time in their histories but just the second in the last 21 years. In the last meeting nearly four years ago, the Johnnies dominated the Peacocks, 85-47, at Carnesecca Arena on Dec. 1, 2020. The Red Storm set a program record for blocks in that game, logging 16 rejections in the dominant victory.
Saint Peter's makes the trip to Queens to open their 2024-25 season. The Peacocks recorded a 7-23 overall record in 2023-24 and a 4-16 mark in MAAC play. The squad was picked to finish 10th in the MAAC Preseason poll and forward Fatmata Janneh was tabbed to the league's preseason third team.
Following Monday's season opener, the Johnnies will head on their longest road trip of the regular season with three contests away from home at LIU (Nov. 8), Loyola Maryland (Nov. 13) and Rhode Island (Nov. 17).
Monday's season opener will be streamed on FloSports with Kevin Connelly and Edona Thaqi on the call from Queens. Tickets can be purchased here and all fans in attendance will receive a 2024-25 St. John's Women's Basketball poster.
St. John's University celebrates the 50th year of women's basketball in Queens and its long-standing tradition of success. Since its establishment as a varsity sport in 1974, the program has amassed 32 winning seasons, 831 career wins, 11 NCAA Tournaments appearances and four BIG EAST Championships.
Head Coach Joe Tartamella enters his 13th year at the helm and his 22nd overall as a staff member, rising through the ranks after starting as a graduate assistant in 2002. The program's all-time winningest coach holds a career mark of 223-158 (.585) and has guided the program to eight postseason appearances in 11 possible seasons.
The Red Storm comes into the year after its second-straight postseason appearance in 2023-24, advancing in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) and finishing with a 18-15 overall record. In league competition, the Johnnies placed third in the BIG EAST with an 11-7 mark, its highest finish since 2019-20.
In the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll, released during the conference's annual media day at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 23, St. John's was predicted to finish fourth in the league, its highest position since 2020.
Tartamella is set to return eight letterwinners from last year's squad, including four players that started 16 games or more. Ber'Nyah Mayo headlines the group as the graduate student was selected to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team. The point guard made her mark last year in Queens after transferring in from UMass, averaging 10.9 points per game. The Wilmington, Del., native top-10 in the BIG EAST in assists per game (3.5), steals per game (1.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9). Mayo became the first Johnnie since all-time leading scorer Aliyyah Handford in 2015-16 to register more than 300 points, 100 assists, 100 rebounds and 50 steals in a single season.
In addition to Mayo, team captain Jailah Donald, who notched seven double-digit scoring efforts, the team's second leading rebounder in Phoenix Gedeon and lockdown defender Tara Daye are all back in Queens.
Six newcomers joined the Red Storm comprised of four transfers and two highly-touted freshmen. The transfer class brings bundles of experience combining for 347 collegiate appearances. Lashae Dwyer comes over from Miami where she averaged a career-best 6.8 points per game last year and played a role in the Hurricanes' trip to the Elite Eight in 2023. Kylie Lavelle was an All-CAA Rookie Team selection before playing a role off the bench as a sophomore in Penn State's winningest season in a decade in 2023-24. Monmouth transfer Ariana Vanderhoop was a four-year starter with the Hawks and a All-CAA selection while Jade Blagrove ranked top-10 in the MAAC in rebounding at Manhattan.
Freshmen A'riel Little is a top-100 ranked recruit, according to ESPNW HoopGurlz, and the program's highest-rated prospect since Kadaja Bailey in 2018. Janeya Grant is a capable three-level shooter out of Middletown, Conn.
Under Tartamella, St. John's has won seven-straight season openers and are 11-1 during his tenure. The Red Storm has also won its first contest by 30 points or more in each of the last three seasons.
The two programs meet for the 13th time in their histories but just the second in the last 21 years. In the last meeting nearly four years ago, the Johnnies dominated the Peacocks, 85-47, at Carnesecca Arena on Dec. 1, 2020. The Red Storm set a program record for blocks in that game, logging 16 rejections in the dominant victory.
Saint Peter's makes the trip to Queens to open their 2024-25 season. The Peacocks recorded a 7-23 overall record in 2023-24 and a 4-16 mark in MAAC play. The squad was picked to finish 10th in the MAAC Preseason poll and forward Fatmata Janneh was tabbed to the league's preseason third team.
Following Monday's season opener, the Johnnies will head on their longest road trip of the regular season with three contests away from home at LIU (Nov. 8), Loyola Maryland (Nov. 13) and Rhode Island (Nov. 17).
Players Mentioned
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