St. John’s Outlasts Georgia Tech in Dramatic Fashion to Open Cayman Islands Classic, 77-75

Friday, November 28

George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (John Gray Gymnasium)

5 p.m.

St. John's University

6-1,0-0Big East

Georgia Tech

3-4,0-0ACC

St. John's (NY)

Georgia Tech

Sa’Mya Wyatt added a block on the defensive end to go with her impressive offensive performance against the Yellow Jackets.

St. John’s Outlasts Georgia Tech in Dramatic Fashion to Open Cayman Islands Classic, 77-75

11/28/2025 8:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Red Storm rallied from a seven-point fourth quarter deficit to claim fifth-straight victory

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman– The St. John's Women's Basketball team (6-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) pulled out a tightly contested battle against Georgia Tech (4-3, 0-0 ACC) on Friday evening to open the Cayman Islands Classic to earn its fifth-straight victory, 77-75.

After the Red Storm sprung out to an early double-digit lead the Yellow Jackets took control holding a seven-point lead with eight minutes to go. The Johnnies engineered a crucial 12-3 run over the final minutes and received clutch 3-point shooting from Janeya Grant to lift them to a victory over the Yellow Jackets inside John Gray Gymnasium.

Shaulana Wagner dished out 13 assists the most by a St. John's player since Nadirah McKenith recorded 14 on Feb. 26, 2011 against Pittsburgh. The graduate student became the 22^nd active player in NCAA Division I to reach the 400-career assist threshold and finished one shy of her career-high. The point guard led the distribution effort, as the Johnnies assisted of 23 of their 25 made field goals (92.0%).

Brooke Moore exploded for 25 points setting a new career-high in scoring for the third consecutive game. The junior went 10-for-11 from the charity stripe, including 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter to reach the 20-point mark for the second straight game.

Sa'Mya Wyatt notched a season-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. The sophomore grabbed seven boards and is averaging 13.5 points per contest over her last four games. Kylie Lavelle reached double-digits for the third straight game adding 11 points.

St. John's outrebounded one of the nation's top rebounding teams in Georgia Tech, 35-27. The Johnnies are 6-0 this season when they win the battle on the glass. Wagner and Wyatt tied for the game-high with seven boards.

The Red Storm shot a season-best 18-for-22 (81.8%) from the free throw line and shot over 50 percent from the field (53.8%) for the third time in the last four games.

The Johnnies got off to a scoring start on the island going 5-for-5 to start the game. Lavelle started it off with a corner triple. The senior continued her scorching opening quarter tallying 10 of St. John's first 14 points. Wyatt finished a mid-range jumper to race out to a 12-3 lead and force a Yellow jackets timeout just 2:29 into the game. Beautiful Waheed swiped a steal and turned on the burners for the open fastbreak lay-up as the Red Storm lead ballooned to as many as 12, 21-8, with 4:06 left in the first quarter. Wagner found Moore for a triple to record her 400^th-career assist. Daniela Abies slipped a pass I the post to Wyatt for the lay-up to close out the Johnnies' first quarter scoring. The Red Storm held a 10-point advantage, 23-13, after the opening 10 minutes and shot 69.2 percent (9-13) during the first frame.

Heading into the second stanza, Wyatt caught fire logging eight of the team's first 11 points of the frame. The sophomore showed off fancy footwork knocking down the turnaround jumper and finished inside off a dime from Ariel Little to carry a 12-point cushion with four minutes to play in the half, 34-22. The Yellow Jackets strung together a 12-4 run to make it a four-point game heading into the locker room.

In the third quarter, the two squads battled back-and-forth in Grand Cayman with neither team leading by more than five points. After the Yellow Jackets took their first lead of the game, Waheed came up with a block that turned into a triple from Moore on the other end. Little knocked down a pivotal 3-pointer from the corner as the shot clock dwindled to bring the Red Storm lead back to four. Georgia Tech strung together a 9-2 scoring stint to bring a 58-55 edge into the final quarter.

In the final 10 minutes, Georgia Tech extended its advantage to as many as seven with 8:02 remaining in regulation. St. John's crawled back before Grant nailed the game-tying 3-pointer, 68-68 with 4:35 to play. With the Red Storm holding a one-point lead, Abies came up with a crucial block to give the Johnnies possession. Grant cashed in from beyond-the-arc once again to propel the lead to four, 75-71, with 1:05 remaining. In the final minute, the Yellow Jackets trailed by a basket with a chance to tie or take the lead with 0:25 on the clock. Wagner took a pivotal charge to give the Johnnies the ball back. Lavelle and Grant split at the charity stripe as Georgia Tech had one last chance to tie or win it at the buzzer. Abies smothered the ball-handler swiping away any opportunity to get a shot off as the clock ran out moving the Red Storm to 6-1 on the year.

St. John's will be back in action to close out the Cayman Island Classic against Memphis tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. ET on FloSports.