St. John’s Narrowly Falls at No. 23/23 Creighton, 65-62

Wednesday, February 19

Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

14-12,4-11Big East

Creighton

22-4,14-1Big East

Team	1	2	3	4	F
St. John's (NY)	15	20	16	11	62
Creighton	14	18	14	19	65

The team stands for the National Anthem before the game.

St. John’s Narrowly Falls at No. 23/23 Creighton, 65-62

2/19/2025 9:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Red Storm led for nearly 30 minutes on Wednesday night in Omaha

OMAHA, Neb.– The St.  John's women's basketball team (14-12, 4-11 BIG EAST) led for nearly 30 minutes on Wednesday night but were unable to fend off a late-run from No. 23/23 Creighton (22-4, 14-1 BIG EAST) and ultimately fell in Omaha, 65-62.

The Red Storm led by five heading into the final quarter in a back-and-forth battle that featured 13 lead changes and six ties. A 7-0 scoring run from the Bluejays proved to the difference at D.J. Sokol Arena.

Lashae Dwyer delivered an 18-point performance shooting 8-for-16 from the floor. The senior recorded three steals on the night to move into 10^th all-time in program history with 77 steals on the year, surpassing Aliyyah Handford's mark of 76 during the 2024-15 campaign. The Miami transfer is averaging 19.5 points per game over her last two appearances.

Jailah Donald filled up the box score on Wednesday night totaling 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, tying a personal best with seven rebounds, four assists and a career-high four steals.

Kylie Lavelle put forth a solid effort logging 14 points on an efficient 6-of-10 shooting mark and pulling down six rebounds. Skye Owen was the fourth Red Storm player to finish in double-digits adding 10 points on a perfect 4-for-4 mark from the charity stripe. Ber'Nyah Mayo chipped in eight points as the starters combined for all 62 points.

The Red Storm shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line on Wednesday night, marking the first time the Johnnies have shot at a 100 percent clip from the charity stripe since they went 9-for-9 at Butler in a 65-57 victory on Dec. 2, 2022.

The Red Storm started off with a bucket from Dwyer off the tip on the opening possession. Lavelle got going logging six points and three boards in the opening four minutes. Donald cashed in on a triple from the top of the key off a feed from Owen and the Red Storm made four of its first seven field goals to jump out to a 13-7 lead. The Bluejays responded with a 7-0 spurt to take their first lead of the game, 14-13. Dwyer finished a drive to the rack to put the Johnnies up by one, 15-14, at the conclusion of the opening frame.

In the second frame after the Bluejays hopped in front  the Red Storm executed a seamless baseline out of bounds play. Owen tossed it into Lavelle, who returned to the junior in the corner setting up the made 3-pointer. Donald sunk a mid-range jumper to finish out a 7-0 run that put St. John's in front by six, 22-16. With the score knotted at 30 with under two minutes left the half, Dwyer dialed up a long-range 3-pointer that was nothing but net with 1:16 to play. On the final play of the half, Dwyer picked the pocket of the Creighton ballhandler flying to the other end for the lay-in to move into the top-10 in single-season steals. St. John's took a three-point edge, 35-32, into the locker room. The two sides closed out the half making 14 of 15 field goal attempts.

In the following quarter, Dwyer stayed hot knocking down a step-back triple from deep as the game remained a closely contested battle. As the clock dwindled into the final minutes of the third stanza, Creighton cut it back to two, 48-46. Donald responded silencing the crowd with a crucial triple from the top of the key off a dish from Dwyer to propel the Johnnies back to a five-point advantage, 51-46, heading into the final 10 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, the Bluejays tacked on six straight points to retake the lead, 52-51. Mayo ended the run with an ankle-breaking crossover to get free and sunk the floater. Maly responded with a made triple as the lead was exchanged once again. St. John's responded with a big time make from beyond-the-arc from Owen to lead once again, 56-55, with 5:25 to play. After Dwyer got a mid-range jumper to fall to bring the scoreline to 60-58 with 4:05 to play, the Bluejays rattled off seven straight to gain a five-point edge, 65-60 with 0:17 on the clock. Donald made a lay-up to make it a one possession game in the final 10 seconds. The Bluejays missed the mark on a pair of free throw attempts to give the Red Storm a last second chance to tie. After being fouled twice, the Johnnies were able to get off a game-tying 3-point attempt that missed the mark as Creighton won its sixth-straight game.

St. John's will return home for its annual "Pink Game" on Sunday afternoon when it faces Seton Hall at 4:30 p.m. at Carnesecca Arena.