Jan. 31, 2001

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) - Brandi Barnes scored 20 points and No. 24 Villanova held off a late St. John's rally to gain a 63-52 victory Wednesday night.

Katie Davis had 12 points, Trish Juhline 11 points and Courtney Mix matched a career-high with 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (15-5, 6-3 Big East), who won for the 10th time in their last 12 games.

Rasheedah Brown had 17 points, LaTasha Thompson 11 and Sherri Brown and Katrina Johns 10 each for the Red Storm (6-13, 1-7), which has lost 10 of its last 12.

Trailing 51-34 with 10:41 left, the Red Storm went on a 16-3 run, with Johns scoring the last six points in the spurt to pull St. John's to 54-50 with 2:08 left.

But the Wildcats stiffened with a 3-pointer by Juhline, a steal by Davis that led to a Barnes layup and free throws by Mimi Riley and Juhline to ice the win.

After the Red Storm scored five straight points to pull to 38-31 with 15:40 left in the game, Villanova went on a 13-3 run, including three 3-pointers. The run was capped by Juhline's 3-pointer.

The Wildcats led by as many as 10 in the first half and were ahead 31-24 at the break. Barnes had 16 of her points in the opening half for Villanova, which went on a 9-0 run midway through to open up the 10-point cushion.