St. John’s Women’s Basketball Team Huddle. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495Sports

Following a pair of setbacks to nationally ranked opponents, the St. John’s Women’s Basketball program will look to get back in the win column on Saturday afternoon with a trip to the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse for a 1 p.m. matchup with Butler.

The contest between the Red Storm (5-11, 2-9 BIG EAST) and the Bulldogs (1-13, 1-12 BIG EAST) will be streamed live on the BIG EAST Digital Network, available on FloSports, with Will Haskett and Sydney Buck on the call from Indianapolis.

St. John’s will look to rebound from a pair of losses, falling victim to then-No. 3/5 Connecticut at Gampel Pavilion on Feb. 3, before seeing its late run come up short against No. 22/22 DePaul on Wednesday at Carnesecca Arena.

In the team’s most recent outing against the Blue Demons, Leilani Correa put forth another stellar scoring effort for the Red Storm, eclipsing the 30-point plateau for the third-straight contest. With a game-high 33 points against DePaul, the sophomore guard became the first player in program history to string together such a stretch of games. The Manchester, N.J., native has recorded a conference-leading five 30-plus point performances this season and eight over her brief collegiate tenure, the most by any player in the BIG EAST since the realignment. Correa, who leads the league in scoring during conference action with 22.9 points per game, has finished in double figures in 14 of the 15 games she has played in this season with seven showings of 20-plus points. With an overall scoring average of 21.7 points per contest this year, Correa ranks fifth among sophomores at the Division I level and 21st overall in the NCAA. In addition to her scoring ability, Correa leads the team in steals with 1.6 thefts per contest, good enough to sit 10th overall in the league.

Junior guard Kadaja Bailey has been a bright spot for the Red Storm as of late. The Long Beach, N.Y., native is just shy of averaging a double-double over the last four games, boasting 13.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest. Bailey leads the Johnnies this season in both rebounding (6.3 rpg) and assists (3.2 apg).  During conference play, Bailey has converted well from the charity stripe, knocking down a league-best 90.3 (11-of-28) percent of her tries.

Saturday will mark the 16th all-time meeting between St. John’s and Butler, with the Johnnies leading the series, 11-4. In the two teams first matchup of the year on Jan. 9, Correa paced the way for the Johnnies with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot guard’s double-double effort helped to lift the Red Storm to a 64-56 victory over the Bulldogs at Carnesecca Arena.

Butler enters Saturday’s contest hungry for a victory, as the Bulldogs only win of the season came a month ago in a 58-40 victory over Georgetown. Butler is led offensively this season by Okako Adika, who is averaging 13.6 points per game. Jaia Alexander leads the Bulldogs in rebounds this year with 7.3 boards per contest. Alexander is just short of double-figure scoring with 9.5 points per game.

After taking on Butler, the Red Storm will return to Queens on Feb. 17 for a 6 p.m. rematch with No. 2/1 Connecticut at Carnesecca Arena.

For more information on the St. John’s University Athletics Department fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here:

St. John’s University Athletics – Official Athletics Website (redstormsports.com)