St. John's University Athletics
Thursday, March 21
Gainesville, Fla. (Exactech Arena at Stephen O'Connell Center)
7 p.m.
St. John's University
at
Florida
St. John’s to Take On Florida in WBIT First Round
3/20/2024 3:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Red Storm qualifies for second-straight postseason
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For the second-straight year, the St. John's women's basketball program will ready for postseason basketball as it faces Florida in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) First Round.
The Red Storm and Gators will hit the hardwood in Gainesville at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen O'Connell Center at 7 p.m. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ with Kyle Crooks and Brittany Davis on the call.
The WBIT was created in 2023 and the inaugural bracket features a 32-team field comprised of the "First Four Out" of the NCAA Tournament, regular season champions who did not win their conference tournaments and additional at-large selections. The BIG EAST will have a tournament-high four teams. Seton Hall, Villanova and Georgetown join the Red Storm as qualifiers.
St. John's enters the tournament with a 17-14 overall record on the year and an 11-7 mark in BIG EAST play. The Red Storm tallied a third-place finish in a league that sent three teams to the "Big Dance".
This marks the program's 18th postseason appearance since 1983 and the 15th in the last 20 years. The Red Storm have qualified for 11 NCAA Tournaments, 6 WNIT's and now will partake in the first-ever WBIT. St. John's holds a 20-17 all-time record in postseason tournaments. Head Coach Joe Tartamella has guided the squad to eight postseason appearances during his 12 years at the helm. The all-time winningest coach in program history is 9-7 in the postseason and captured a victory in last year's NCAA Tournament.
The Johnnies are led by unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection Unique Drake, who is averaging 17.7 points per game for the Red Storm. The redshirt senior has been the catalyst for St. John's scoring production logging 12 20-plus point performances and ranks third in the BIG EAST with 71 made 3-pointers.
The Red Storm will play just its second game in 23 days on Thursday. In its last time out, the squad fell to eventual runner-up Georgetown in the BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinal, 53-44, at Mohegan Sun Arena. Jillian Archer added a game-high 16 points, playing all 40 minutes in the conference tournament. The forward was named All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention and is averaging 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
St. John's will face Florida on the hardwood for just the fourth time in program history and the first in nearly a decade. The last meeting occurred on Nov. 20, 2014, when the Red Storm outlasted the Gators, 72-66. Former stars and eventual WNBA draft picks Aliyyah Handford and Danejah Grant combined for 53 points while current staff member Aaliyah Lewis dished out eight assists. St. John's holds a 2-1 record over Florida and the two will meet in the postseason for the first time. The Gators will be the first SEC opponent the Johnnies have faced since they defeated Ole Miss on Nov. 24, 2019. Tartamella owns a 4-5 record against current SEC programs.
Florida comes into the contest with a 16-15 record and won a pair of SEC Tournament games before being bounced in the quarterfinal round by Ole Miss, 84-74. The Gators get a load of scoring production from their reserves with 27.6 points per game, which ranks 11th-most in NCAA Division I.
Gators' guard Aliyah Matharu is one of the top scorers in the country. The guard is averaging 18.9 points per game which ranks second in the SEC, trailing only LSU's Angel Reese (19.0). In her last two outings at the SEC Tournament, the Texas transfer is averaging 28.5 per game, including a career-high 35 against Vanderbilt on March 7.
The winner of Thursday's contest will advance to the WBIT Second Round and take on the winner of Toledo and Cleveland State on Sunday, March 24.
The Red Storm and Gators will hit the hardwood in Gainesville at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen O'Connell Center at 7 p.m. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ with Kyle Crooks and Brittany Davis on the call.
The WBIT was created in 2023 and the inaugural bracket features a 32-team field comprised of the "First Four Out" of the NCAA Tournament, regular season champions who did not win their conference tournaments and additional at-large selections. The BIG EAST will have a tournament-high four teams. Seton Hall, Villanova and Georgetown join the Red Storm as qualifiers.
St. John's enters the tournament with a 17-14 overall record on the year and an 11-7 mark in BIG EAST play. The Red Storm tallied a third-place finish in a league that sent three teams to the "Big Dance".
This marks the program's 18th postseason appearance since 1983 and the 15th in the last 20 years. The Red Storm have qualified for 11 NCAA Tournaments, 6 WNIT's and now will partake in the first-ever WBIT. St. John's holds a 20-17 all-time record in postseason tournaments. Head Coach Joe Tartamella has guided the squad to eight postseason appearances during his 12 years at the helm. The all-time winningest coach in program history is 9-7 in the postseason and captured a victory in last year's NCAA Tournament.
The Johnnies are led by unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection Unique Drake, who is averaging 17.7 points per game for the Red Storm. The redshirt senior has been the catalyst for St. John's scoring production logging 12 20-plus point performances and ranks third in the BIG EAST with 71 made 3-pointers.
The Red Storm will play just its second game in 23 days on Thursday. In its last time out, the squad fell to eventual runner-up Georgetown in the BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinal, 53-44, at Mohegan Sun Arena. Jillian Archer added a game-high 16 points, playing all 40 minutes in the conference tournament. The forward was named All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention and is averaging 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
St. John's will face Florida on the hardwood for just the fourth time in program history and the first in nearly a decade. The last meeting occurred on Nov. 20, 2014, when the Red Storm outlasted the Gators, 72-66. Former stars and eventual WNBA draft picks Aliyyah Handford and Danejah Grant combined for 53 points while current staff member Aaliyah Lewis dished out eight assists. St. John's holds a 2-1 record over Florida and the two will meet in the postseason for the first time. The Gators will be the first SEC opponent the Johnnies have faced since they defeated Ole Miss on Nov. 24, 2019. Tartamella owns a 4-5 record against current SEC programs.
Florida comes into the contest with a 16-15 record and won a pair of SEC Tournament games before being bounced in the quarterfinal round by Ole Miss, 84-74. The Gators get a load of scoring production from their reserves with 27.6 points per game, which ranks 11th-most in NCAA Division I.
Gators' guard Aliyah Matharu is one of the top scorers in the country. The guard is averaging 18.9 points per game which ranks second in the SEC, trailing only LSU's Angel Reese (19.0). In her last two outings at the SEC Tournament, the Texas transfer is averaging 28.5 per game, including a career-high 35 against Vanderbilt on March 7.
The winner of Thursday's contest will advance to the WBIT Second Round and take on the winner of Toledo and Cleveland State on Sunday, March 24.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
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