Jayla Everett went for a season-high 26 points to power the No. 24/23 St. John’s Women’s Basketball team past Xavier, 71-52, on Sunday afternoon.
The shooting guard scored the most points by any Red Storm player this season shooting 8-of-11 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. The 26 points were the most the redshirt senior has had in a game since her career-high 34 on Dec. 19, 2019 against Loyola Marymount, while at New Mexico.
The Red Storm held Xavier scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the third quarter to balloon its advantage and bounce back after its first loss of the season.
Jillian Archer had a strong outing logging a double-double at Carnesecca Arena. The graduate student added 16 points and a game-high 13 boards. The forward has been on a tear averaging 10.3 points and 14 rebounds over the last three BIG EAST tilts.
In the first quarter, Everett scored 12 of the Johnnies 14 points, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor to give the team a one-point lead after 10 minutes.
After a free-throw knotted the score to start the next quarter, Unique Drake buried a corner three-pointer to take the lead back that St. John’s (14-1, 5-1 BIG EAST) held onto for the remainder of the game. The Johnnies held a 32-25 lead heading into the locker room.
On the opening possession of the third quarter, the Red Storm executed crisp ball movement led to an easy finish at the rim for Archer assisted by Everett.
Then the St. John’s defense then clamped down on the Musketeers, holding the visitors scoreless for nearly seven minutes and built up a sizeable lead.
During the Xavier (7-9, 0-7 BIG EAST) scoring drought, the Johnnies spurred a 13-0 scoring run that was capped off by four made free-throw’s from Everett to make it, 49-29.
In the final stanza, a pair of Musketeers baskets trimmed the deficit to 15, Kadaja Bailey responded by finishing a high-arching floater while absorbing a foul with 7:31 remaining.
In the final stages of Sunday’s matinee, Everett drained a mid-range jumper to complete her abundant scoring outing. The St. Louis, Mo., native is currently averaging 19.6 points during conference play.
St. John’s will look ahead to the first-ever women’s college basketball game at UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders, on Wednesday night against No. 5 UConn. The 8 p.m. tip-off will be broadcast on SNY and to purchase tickets click here.
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