Amber Thompson. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports
With just four games remaining in the BIG EAST regular season, the Red Storm will begin its final weekend of play at Carnesecca Arena on Friday night, hosting Villanova at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network, with Ralph Bednarczyk and Scott Greene on the call.
RED STORM QUICK HITS
- Friday night will mark the Red Storm’s annual Play4Kay game. A nationwide movement by women’s basketball programs, Play4Kay seeks to raise breast cancer awareness in addition to serving as a fundraising initiative for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, honoring the memory of legendary NC State women’s basketball head coach Kay Yow, who passed away in 2009 following a long battle with breast cancer.
- The St. John’s career leader in rebounds, Amber Thompson is just five rebounds shy of becoming the first player in Red Storm history to record 1,000 boards during her tenure in Queens. The Newark, N.J., native became the school’s all-time leader in that category earlier this year against No. 23 Seton Hall, when she led the Red Storm to victory with 20 rebounds, the third-highest single-game total in school history.
- The leading scorer in the BIG EAST at 19.8 points per game, Aliyyah Handford has poured in 496 points through 25 contests this season. With four more points, the Newark, N.J., native will become just the fourth player in St. John’s history to record multiple 500-point seasons in her career, having already set the sophomore scoring record with 567 points during the 2013-14 campaign. With this accomplishment, Handford will join an elite list of St. John’s alumna in Ling-Ling Hou, Debbie Beckford and Cozette Ballentine, who rank first, second and third, respectively, on the school’s all-time scoring list.
- This past weekend in the Midwest, junior guard Danaejah Grant put up a solid pair of performances to earn herself a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. Against Marquette on Friday, the Piscataway, N.J., native narrowly missed a double-double, tallying 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists as the Red Storm pulled away late. In the team’s loss to DePaul on Sunday, Grant scored a game-high 22 points and tied a career-high with 11 rebounds, marking her third double-double of the season.
SCOUTING VILLANOVA
- The Wildcats enter Friday’s game in third place in the BIG EAST, sporting a conference record of 10-4 with an overall mark of 16-10.
- Villanova features two scorers in double figures, Caroline Coyer at 13.5 points per game and Emily Leer at 12.1 per contest. Coyer also leads the team in assists at 4.4 per game, while ranking 16th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.61.
- As a team, the Wildcats lead the nation in a pair of categories: assist-to-turnover ratio (1.76) and turnovers per game (8.5). Villanova also ranks in the top five nationally in personal fouls per game (12.7) and three-point field goals made per game (9.2).
ST JOHN’S VS. VILLANOVA – THE SERIES
- Charter members of the BIG EAST, Villanova and St. John’s have played one another on 56 occasions over the history of the programs, with the Wildcats holding a 32-24 advantage over their neighbors to the northeast.
- The two teams played most recently on Jan. 25 of this year, when Villanova shot a blistering 61 percent from the floor en route to an 81-69 victory at home. Before that loss, the Red Storm had won six in a row against the Wildcats.
For more information on the St. John’s Women’s Basketball team fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here: