St John’s Women’s Basketball Huddle. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports
With only two games left in the BIG EAST regular season, the Red Storm will battle for conference tournament seeding this weekend in the Midwest, beginning with a 7 p.m. tilt against Butler on Friday night at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
RED STORM QUICK HITS
- The rest of the BIG EAST will have its eye on Friday night’s matchup, as both the Red Storm and the Bulldogs enter the weekend with a record of 10-6 in the league. DePaul and Seton Hall have already clinched the top-two seeds in the BIG EAST Tournament, while St. John’s and Butler are part of a three-team logjam for third place (Villanova is also 10-6 in league play).
- A win against Butler would give St. John’s its second-consecutive 20-win season and its fifth in the last six years. Since 1974-75, the Red Storm has reached the 20-win plateau on 14 occasions.
- Aliyyah Handford was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the ninth time this season on Monday following a weekend that saw her put up a pair of stellar performances. Against Villanova on Friday in a crucial conference matchup, the Newark, N.J., native poured in 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and picked up three steals. Handford then followed that up with another earth-shattering performance against Georgetown, tying a season-high with 27 points and setting a new career-high with seven assists.
- As the Red Storm hits the home stretch of the regular season, a pair of St. John’s players is within striking distance of the record books. Following 13 rebounds against Georgetown, Amber Thompson has 302 rebounds on the year, pulling herself within just 11 boards of her own single-single program record that she set last year. The other member of the Red Storm with the potential to re-write the record book is Aliyyah Handford. With 27 points against the Hoyas, Aliyyah Handford moved into ninth place on the St. John’s career scoring list with 1,409 points, passing Sue Bretthauer (1,399), and pulled within just 78 points of the school’s single-season scoring record for a junior (626) set by Cozette Ballentine during the 1990-91 season.
- Following a 26-point performance against Georgetown on Sunday, Danaejah Grant moved back into third place on the conference’s scoring list with an average of 17.6 points per game. The Piscataway, N.J., native has scored 20 or more points on 10 occasions this season and has recorded a team-high three double-doubles.
SCOUTING BUTLER
- The Bulldogs are one of three teams currently tied for third place in the BIG EAST standings at 10-6.
- The Bulldogs are led by senior forward Ijeoma Uchendu, who averages 14.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per outing. In BIG EAST play, Uchendu has been on fire, averaging 17.1 points and 10.2 boards through 16 league contests.
- Butler has had an up-and-down BIG EAST slate, a schedule that features both an eight-game winning streak in January and a four-game losing skid in February.
ST JOHN’S VS. BUTLER – THE SERIES
- St. John’s and Butler met for the first time in 2013-14, the Bulldogs’ inaugural year in the BIG EAST.
- The Johnnies swept the season series last year before Butler picked up a win early in 2015, 55-50, at Carnesecca Arena.
For more information on the St. John’s Women’s Basketball team fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here: