Danaejah Grant. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports
Following the team’s first loss of the BIG EAST season at home against Butler on Friday night, the Red Storm will look to quickly re-group when it faces Creighton on the road in Omaha on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
RED STORM QUICK HITS
- The Red Storm’s 3-0 start in BIG EAST play tied for the second-best beginning to a conference season in program history and marked the fourth time that a Red Storm squad started with at least that record. In addition to this year’s club, the 2012-13 and 1983-84 teams started 3-0 in the BIG EAST, while the 1982-83 team holds the program record for a 5-0 start during the inaugural season of BIG EAST women’s basketball.
- Despite an explosive 27-point outburst from Aliyyah Handford and an abbreviated six-point effort from Danaejah Grant on Friday night, the pair remains in the second and third spots in the BIG EAST scoring rankings with 19.6 and 18.1 points per game, respectively, on the season. The junior guards are the fourth-most prolific teammate scoring combo in the country, ranking only behind pairs from Ohio State, Akron and Washington State.
- Following a 12-rebound outing against Butler, Amber Thompson solidified her stranglehold on top of the BIG EAST rebounding standings and maintained her spot as the sixth-best glass cleaner in the NCAA. The senior from Newark, N.J., is averaging 12.1 boards per game on the season and recently became the school’s all-time leader in the category with a 20-board effort against Seton Hall on Jan. 2. With 895 rebounds for her career, Thompson is closing in on 900 and has a very real opportunity to become the first player in program history to reach 1,000.
- Having started every game at the point guard position for the Red Storm this season, sophomore Aaliyah Lewis has enjoyed tremendous success distributing the ball lately, averaging 7.7 assists per game over her last three contests. The Staten Island, N.Y., native set a new career-high with nine helpers against No. 2 Connecticut a week ago before dishing out seven assists and surrendering no turnovers at home against Butler on Friday. Lewis also tied a career-high with five steals against the Bulldogs.
SCOUTING CREIGHTON
- One of three squads to join the BIG EAST before last season, Creighton is struggling at the beginning of conference play, sporting a 1-4 record against league opponents and an 8-8 mark overall.
- Losers of their last three, the Bluejays are led by the conference’s preseason player of the year, Marissa Janning. The 5-8 junior guard from Watertown, Minn., tops the team with 16.3 points, in addition to pulling down 5.1 boards and passing out 3.8 assists per game.
- Two other Bluejays average double-figure scoring numbers, Alexis Akin-Otiko (11.8 ppg) and Sydney Lamberty (10.1 ppg). Lamberty, a freshman, leads the BIG EAST in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.1.
- Surrendering just 10.9 turnovers per game, the Bluejays rank second in the nation in that category.
ST JOHN’S VS. CREIGHTON – THE SERIES
- Creighton and St. John’s have met five times in the history of the two programs, with three of those contests coming last year during the Bluejays’ inaugural season in the conference. St. John’s leads the series, 3-2.
- Creighton was the first round NCAA opponent of the Red Storm in 2012, as St. John’s recorded a 69-67 win over the Bluejays en route to the program’s first-ever trip to the Sweet 16.
For more information on the St. John’s Women’s Basketball team fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here: