The St. John’s Women’s Basketball team closed out its home slate with a thrilling 68-62 overtime victory over Providence on Sunday afternoon.
On her Senior Day, Camree Clegg led the Red Storm (11-16, 7-10 BIG EAST) with a career-high 23 points when she shot 6-of-7 from the field, 4-for-5 from beyond the arc and 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. Clegg also logged a team-best seven assists during the win against Providence (11-16, 6-12 BIG EAST). Rayven Peeples crashed the boards, pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds including 12 on defense. The junior set her previous career high of 14 boards against the Friars earlier this season. Leilani Correa posted a solid performance, tallying 20 points and eight boards.
The Red Storm offense got off to a hot start with a pair of jumpers from Correa and a couple free throws by Clegg, giving the Red and White the early 6-0 advantage. Leading 6-3 at the media timeout, the Red Storm added six straight, including a three from Correa with 2:15 left in the frame. St, John’s held Providence to 2-for-14 shooting in the period, and at the break, the Johnnies led the Friars, 12-6.
Despite Providence scoring the first four points of the second quarter, St. John’s posted back-to-back triples, resulting in a timeout for the Friars with 7:32 to play and the Johnnies leading, 18-10. Following a pair of buckets from Providence, a 3-pointer by Correa sparked an 8-0 rally, giving St. Johns the 26-14 edge with 3:29 remaining before the halftime break. Correa led all players with 11 points during the first half, helping the Johnnies secure the 28-18 advantage as the teams headed to the locker room.
The Johnnies gave up a 9-2 run to the Friars to start the second half, forcing the Red Storm to use a timeout with its lead dwindling to just three, 30-27, with 5:57 left to play in the third. A back-and-forth battle commenced, following the timeout, with neither team leading by more than three after the break. Despite getting outscored 18-9 in the third, a layup by Clegg with less than a minute in the period gave the St. John’s squad the 37-36 edge with 10 minutes to play in regulation.
Providence sank a pair of free throws to reclaim the lead early in the fourth, but 3-pointers by Clegg and Kadaja Bailey gave the Johnnies the 43-38 advantage. With 7:42 on the clock, the Friars burned a timeout in hopes of stalling the St. John’s offense. A made free throw by Correa extended the Red Storm lead to six, but Providence matched the deficit by scoring six straight to tie the game at 44 with 4:31 remaining in the game.
Unique Drake found Correa for a triple to break up the stalemate, but layups from Olivia Olsen and Janai Crooms swung the momentum back in favor of the Friars with 1:26 on the clock. Coming out of a St. John’s timeout, Drake went to Danielle Patterson for a crucial 3-pointer, pulling the Red Storm ahead 50-48 with 48 seconds remaining. The advantage was short lived with Grace Efosa-Aguebor going 2-fo-2 from the line to tie the game once again. The Johnnies had a last second look but could not convert, forcing the teams to play another five minutes with the game tied at 50.
Clegg and Correa nailed back-to-back triples to give the Johnnies the 56-52 lead less than a minute into overtime. Following a bucket by Crooms, Clegg scored five straight points, including her fourth three of the contest, putting the Johnnies ahead 59-54 with 2:53 remaining. The Friars cut the Red Storm advantage to four with 1:20 to play, but St. John’s solid 5-of-6 performance from the line down the stretch sealed the overtime victory.
Providence had three players score in double figures with Crooms leading the way as the Cranston, R.I., native shot 6-for17 from the floor for 13 points. Alyssa Geary and Lauren Sampson posted 12 points each for the Friars.
St. John’s moves to 1-0 in overtime games this season. The last overtime victory for the Red Storm program came against Butler on Feb. 28, 2020.
Up next, the Johnnies will get set for their final road trip this regular season, beginning with a contest at No. 10 Connecticut on Friday night. Tip-off from the XL Center is slated for 7 p.m.
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