St. John’s Women’s Basketball Team Huddle. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495Sports
Behind four double-digit scoring performances, the St. John’s Women’s Basketball team took down Providence, 65-47, on Sunday at Carnesecca Arena.
With the victory over the Friars, Head Coach Joe Tartamella moved into second on the Red Storm’s all-time wins list with 169.
“I have been a part of a lot of wins, not just as a head coach, but also as an assistant over my time here,” said Tartamella. “It is a pretty cool feeling, and obviously we hope for more to come. It is still about the players that have been through our program. I couldn’t be prouder of them, and even more importantly, our staff. We celebrate this with everybody.”
Unique Drake led the way for the Red Storm (7-12,4-10 BIG EAST) in scoring with 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor.
For the first time since the 2017-18 season, St. John’s saw two players record double-doubles as Leilani Correa turned in 15 points and 10 rebounds while Rayven Peeples finished with 12 points and a career-high 13 boards. This marked Correa’s fourth double-double of the season and the sixth of her Red Storm career. The Manchester, N.J., native also grabbed a career-best five steals against the Friars.
Kadaja Bailey netted 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. The Long Beach, N.Y., native also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
St. John’s won the turnover battle convincingly, forcing 16 Providence (6-11, 4-8 BIG EAST) miscues while surrendering just seven of its own. Nine of Providence’s 16 turnovers were caused by Red Storm steals, marking the fifth time this season that St. John’s has registered nine or more thefts in a single game. The Johnnies also crashed the glass well on the afternoon, outrebounding the Friars, 35-24.
The Friars opened up the game on a 6-0 run to take an early lead. After a little over three minutes of scoreless action for the Red Storm, Emma Nolan converted on a shot from deep to cut the Johnnies’ deficit in half, 6-3. The two programs traded buckets over the next three minutes.
With the Friars leading by five, 12-7, at the two-minute mark, St. John’s fired off six unanswered points down the stretch to take the lead, 13-12, after 10 minutes of action.
Through the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second stanza, the Johnnies and the Friars traded blows as the game saw three ties and two lead changes.
With the score knotted at 19 and 6:17 remaining in the half, St. John’s took off on 13-2 run to pull ahead by 11, 32-21, with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter. The Friars began to chip away at the Johnnies’ lead, rattling off six-straight points to get back within five, 32-27, at the intermission.
The Friars opened up the third quarter with a triple to get back within two, 32-30. The Johnnies responded with a three-pointer of their own off the hands of Correa. This ignited a 16-5 run for the home team as St. John’s built its lead back up to double-digits, 48-34, after 30 minutes of action.
Bailey, who accounted for five of the Johnnies’ 16 points in the third quarter, carried that momentum over into the final frame, converting on a jumper to grow the Red Storm’s lead to 15, 50-35. The Friars trimmed their deficit down to seven, but that was as close as they would get as the Johnnies outscored the visiting team, 15-4, down the stretch.
St. John’s will wrap up its three-game homestand on Wednesday when it welcomes Georgetown to Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off between the Johnnies and the Hoyas is scheduled for 4 p.m. on BEDN.