St. John’s Edged at Butler, 64-59

Friday, February 9

Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

14-11,8-5Big East

Butler

10-13,2-10Big East

St. John's (NY)

Butler

2/9/2024 9:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Unique Drake and Jillian Archer combined for 45 points at Hinkle Fieldhouse

INDIANAPOLIS – The St. John's women's basketball team narrowly fell at Butler, 64-59, on Friday night.

The two sides went back-and-forth all night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The game was tightly contested as it saw six ties and 10 lead changes throughout.

Jillian Archer matched a career-high 23 points and set a new season-high pulling down 13 rebounds in Indianapolis. The forward's point total tied her most since nearly three years ago, when she scored 23 on Feb. 28 against Xavier while at Georgetown. The Santa Monica, Calif., native shot 10-for-17 from the floor, which matched a personal best.

Unique Drake went off for 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting (53.3%). The redshirt senior had 11 in the first quarter and connected on her first six field goal attempts of the game. Tonight marked the 11^th 20-plus point outing for the guard this season, after recording just three in her four years prior. After tonight's game, the Columbia, S.C., native has moved up to 13^th on the all-time scoring list.

Archer and Drake combined for 45 of the Johnnies 59 points.

Ber'Nyah Mayo dished out a team-high six assists in Friday's loss. Over her last five games, the senior point guard is averaging 4.6 helpers per outing.

Butler caught fire from long-range at its home arena shooting 11-for-24 (45.8 %) from beyond-the-arc. Caroline Strande led the Bulldogs with 18 points.

After a triple in the first quarter, Drake moved to top-15 all-time on the career scoring list. The redshirt senior scored the game's next two baskets connecting on a pair of mid-range jumpers to complete a 9-0 solo run to take an 11-6 lead. The Bulldogs kept it close throughout the opening 10 minutes by cashing in from beyond-the-arc. A 3-pointer from Rachel Kent knotted the score at 16 apiece. Jailah Donald added the final bucket of the first stanza to hold a two-point edge after the first.

In the second frame, Butler scored on its first possession before the Johnnies went on a scoring burst. Archer scored the first five points and Drake nailed a jumper to close out a 9-0 scoring stretch over 2:25. The guard started the game 6-for-6 from field goal range.

The Red Storm led the Bulldogs, 31-29, at the halftime break.

The Red Storm pulled ahead once again in the third quarter as Archer started off the squad strong by tallying the first six points on the frame to jump out to an eight-point advantage, 37-29. Butler proceeded to hold the Red Storm to over a five-minute scoring drought and went on a 12-0 spurt to take the lead, 41-37. With 1:25 left in the third, Drake buried a triple to cut the deficit to one, 44-43. After a baseline drive from Donald retook the Red Storm advantage, Butler cashed in from 3-point range to carry a 47-45 edge into the final frame.

During the fourth quarter, the two BIG EAST foes traded baskets as neither led by more than five for the last 18 minutes of the game. the middle of the fourth, Archer took over finishing three-straight baskets inside the paint. To build a three-point cushion, 57-54. After the Bulldogs tied the game for the sixth time, Archer tied her personal best after another bucket in the paint, 59-57, with 2:28 to play. After a Strande triple gave Butler the lead back, neither side was able to score for the next 1:30. Strande split from the charity stripe but a traveling violation gave the ball back to the home squad. After Rachel Kent also split from the line, St. John's had another opportunity down a single-possession with 0:14 on the clock, but were unable to convert from three in the final seconds and fall to 14-11 on the year.

The Red Storm will be back in Queens on Tuesday night to face Seton Hall at 7 p.m