VILLANOVA, PA. – In a thrilling Big East contest, the Villanova Wildcats tallied a 66-64 overtime win over the visiting St. John's Red Storm. With the victory, Villanova improves to 12-9 overall and 6-4 in Big East play, while St. John's falls to 13-8 overall and 6-4 in conference action.

This is the second time this season that Villanova earned an overtime victory against the Red Storm. In a game played in Queens on Jan. 5, the Wildcats registered a 67-62 extra session win.

The game was tied at 43-43 with 2:03 remaining in the third, when St. John's scored the final four points of the quarter to take a 47-43 entering the fourth stanza. The four St. John's points included a jumper by Raven Farley and a fast break lay-up by Alissa Alston.

Alston scored on a driving lay-up on the first possession of the fourth quarter and the Red Storm had its biggest lead of the game at 49-43.

Trailing 51-47, Villanova cut the lead to one at 51-50 on a three-ball by junior guard Raven James. After St. John's split a pair at the line on the next trip down the court to make it a 52-50 contest, Villanova went 3:31 without scoring.

James ended the Wildcat scoreless drought when she made one of two at the line to make it a 54-51 game with 3:43 remaining. Following the James foul shot, Kadaja Bailey gave St. John's a 56-51 advantage when she scored on a lay-up at the 3:20 mark.

Each team had an empty offensive possession, before Villanova redshirt freshman Maddy Siegrist scored on a lay-up in the paint and was fouled with 2:04 on the clock. Siegrist made the free throw for the conventional three-point play and the Wildcats trailed 56-54 with 2:03 remaining.

St. John's had a chance to take a two possession lead with 15 seconds to play, but Qadashah Hoppie's three-point field goal from the corner was off target.

Wildcat senior forward Bridget Herlihy grabbed the defensive rebound and immediately called timeout and advanced the ball to the front court.

Villanova in bounded the ball to James who penetrated and made a pass to Siegrist who drained a 12-foot jumper to tie the game at 56-56 with 3.5 seconds remaining. St. John's had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but Alston's 15-footer would not fall and the game was headed to overtime.

The Wildcats drew first blood in the overtime, when James connected on a three on the first possession of the extra session and Villanova led 59-56. After Siegrist missed a short jumper that would have put her team up five, St. John's made it a 59-58 game on a lay-up by Hoppie. Two Siegrist foul shots increased the Villanova advantage to 61-58, before Hoppie scored again to trim the lead to one.

Leading 61-60 with 1:28 on the clock, Villanova junior guard Cameron Onken drained a three from the left wing and the Wildcats were up 64-60. Following a Red Storm turnover and a missed shot by the Wildcats, St. John's made it a 64-62 contest with 32 seconds left when Alston scored on a lay-up off the break.

St. John's was forced to foul and they sent senior forward Mary Gedaka to the line with 28.1 seconds to go. Gedaka missed the first and made the second and the Wildcats led 65-62. The Red Storm responded and cut the lead to one at 65-64 at the 17 second mark on a Hoppie lay-up.

Villanova called timeout and in bounded the ball to Siegrist who was fouled with 15 seconds remaining. Siegrist made one of two to put her team up 66-64. Out of timeouts, St. John's raced the ball up the court and Hoppie misfired on a running lay-up. The rebound went out of bounds off of Villanova and the Red Storm had life with 1.8 seconds on the clock. St. John's got the ball to Hoppie whose desperation three-pointer was off target and Villanova escaped with the win.

In the victory, Siegrist led the way with a game-high 22 points, while Gedaka recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Onken tallied nine points on three triples to go with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sophomore Sam Carangi added eight points off the bench.

St. John's was paced by Alston with 21 points and Alisha Kebbe who had 13 points and 14 rebounds.

For the game, Villanova was 22-of-56 from the field (39.3%), 10-of-22 from three-point range (45.5%) and 12-of-20 from the foul line (60.0%), while St. John's shot 39.1 percent from the floor (27-of-69), 11.8 percent from long distance (2-of-17) and 53.3 percent from the charity stripe (8-of-15). The Red Storm owned a 50-36 advantage on the backboards.

Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Feb. 2, when the Seton Hall Pirates visit the Finneran Pavilion. Game time is set for 1 p.m.

NOTES: Villanova has defeated St. John's in nine of the last 13 games and leads the all-time series by a 41-28 margin…Tonight was the 10th double-double of Mary Gedaka's career…Mary Gedaka played all 45 minutes in tonight's win. This is the eighth time this season that she has played the entire game…Maddy Siegrist now has 11, 20-point games this season and she has scored double figures in 20 of the 21 games…Villanova was credited with an assist on 15 of its 22 field goals…Maddy Siegrist leads the Big East in 20-point games with 11…Tonight was the first time in program history that Villanova has won two overtime games against the same team in the same season...The Wildcats improve to 2-1 in overtime games this year... Villanova is now 7-4 in home games this year.