The St. John’s Women’s Basketball team dropped a tight contest, 94-88, to BIG EAST foe DePaul at Wintrust Arena on Friday night.
Overall, the Red Storm (6-13, 2-7 BIG EAST) shot 52.9 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. Five Johnnies scored in double figures during the loss as Kadaja Bailey led the squad with 24 points and was a rebound shy of a double-double. Danielle Patterson tallied a career-best 20 points while Unique Drake logged 16 during the loss to the Blue Demons (17-5, 9-2 BIG EAST). Leilani Correa and Camree Clegg rounded out the Johnnies’ top scorers, chipping in 10 points each.
The Red Storm started the game shooting 42.1 percent from the floor but just 20 percent from beyond the arc. The Johnnies trailed by as many as 10 during the period but and 8-3 rally followed for St. John’s. Bailey drove to the basket as time expired to finish off the run, leaving the Johnnies behind, 24-19, after 10 minutes.
The Johnnies offense improved in the following quarter, shooting 56.3 percent overall and going 3-for-4 from three. DePaul built back its lead, putting the Red Storm behind by 10 with 8:09 remaining, but St. Johns chipped away at the Blue Demon edge. After a three from Patterson cut the lead to three at the 5:55 mark, Rayven Peeples scored to put the Johnnies within one, forcing the opposition to burn a timeout with 4:11 remaining in the half. Bailey made a 3-pointer on the following possession, putting the Red Storm ahead by a pair, and a back-and-forth battle commenced to close out the period. Trailing by six with two seconds remaining before the half, Patterson forced a turnover and scored at the horn, leaving St. John’s behind, 46-42.
Coming out of the locker room, DePaul opened the frame on an 8-2 run with 8:18 to play in the third. A 10-0 run for the Johnnies followed with a basket by Drake with 5:28 left in the period tying the game at 54. The teams went point-for-point with St. John’s shooting 70.6 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three. The Johnnies outscored the Blue Demons 27-23 in the period, and at the end of the quarter, both teams were locked up at 69.
The Red Storm shot 44.4 percent from the floor in the final frame, notching just one 3-pointer during the period. Despite falling behind by as many as seven points, the Johnnies did not go away with Bailey tying the game at 82 with 4:06 to play. After a jumper by Patterson once again tied the game at 84, a Blue Demon rally commenced with the 5-0 edge proving to be too much for St. John’s to overcome.
DePaul had three players score over 20 points, including Lexi Held, who’s 24 points was a squad best. The Blue Demons logged 42 fast break points and 21 points off turnovers.
St. John’s returns home to host Marquette on Sunday. Tip-off from Carnesecca Arena is slated for 3 p.m.
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