St. John’s Falls to No. 1/1 UConn in First-Ever Standalone Game at Madison Square Garden

Sunday, March 1

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

7:30 p.m.

St. John's University

21-10,11-9Big East

Connecticut

31-0,20-0Big East

UConn

St. John's (NY)

The St. John's women's basketball team lines up during the national anthem.

St. John’s Falls to No. 1/1 UConn in First-Ever Standalone Game at Madison Square Garden

3/1/2026 11:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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The Red Storm set a new single-game attendance record with 9,612 fans on Sunday night at the World’s Most Famous Arena

NEW YORK – The St. John's women's basketball team concluded the regular season falling to No. 1/1 UConn, 85-49, on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden in front of a crowd of 9,612.

The crowd of 9,612 set a new St. John's women's basketball single-game attendance record during the program's first-ever standalone game at The World's Most Famous Arena.

After concluding the regular season with a 21-10 overall record and an 11-9 mark in BIG EAST play, St. John's will enter the 2026 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Tournament presented by JEEP as the sixth-seed and will open up against 11th-seeded Xavier on Friday at 4 p.m. on Peacock from Mohegan Sun Arena.

Every Red Storm player who saw action scored on Sunday night at The Mecca. Jailah Donald paced the team with eight points, while Daniela Abies pulled down a team-best six rebounds. Defensively, the Johnnies held UConn in check, not allowing any player to score more than 14 points, with Azzi Fudd leading the Huskies at that mark.

The top-ranked Huskies opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but Sa'Mya Wyatt answered with a pull-up jumper. UConn then used a 10-0 surge to take control, building a 13-2 advantage. A fast-break layup from Abies and a three from Janeya Grant trimmed the deficit to nine, 16-7, with 4:59 left in the first quarter. The Huskies responded with six straight points before Brooke Moore delivered a monster block on the nation's 12th-ranked shooter, Sarah Strong. Ariel Little and UConn's Azzi Fudd traded baskets in the closing seconds, sending UConn into the second quarter with a 24-9 lead.

Moore opened the second period with a three-pointer, but the Huskies answered again, scoring eight unanswered points to stretch their lead to 32-13. The Johnnies added a pair of layups to make it 34-17, yet UConn continued to press the advantage, pushing the margin to as many as 24 and heading into halftime up 43-20.

Coming out of the break, the Red Storm showed resilience as Moore, Donald and Kylie Lavelle each connected from beyond the arc within the first six minutes of the third quarter.

A low-scoring opening five minutes of the fourth resulted in the Huskies holding a 76-41 edge. UConn finished strong to secure an 85-49 victory. Freshman Kyla Hayes added a season-high five points in the finale.