NEW YORK – In a game played at Madison Square Garden on Saturday evening, the St. John's Red Storm registered a 51-46 win over the Villanova Wildcats in the BIG EAST opener for both teams. With the victory, St. John's improves to 6-6 on the year, while Villanova is now 6-5 overall.
Cold shooting was the theme for Villanova in the opening quarter, as the Wildcats were just 4-of-18 from the field and 1-of-9 from three-point range. St. John's was 6-of-15 from the floor and 2-of-6 from long distance in the game's first 10 minutes.
Senior guard
Bella Runyan led Villanova in the opening period with five points.
Following two free throws by Villanova junior
Kaitlyn Orihel that cut the St. John's lead to 17-14 early in the second quarter, neither team was able to score for the next 4:46. Runyan ended the scoreless drought with a long jumper from just inside the arc to make it a 17-16 game with 3:49 on the clock.
On the game's next possession, Jillian Archer scored on a short jumper to increase the Red Storm advantage to 19-16 at the 3:23 mark. The Archer basket would be St. John's last points of the first half. Orihel scored the final six points of the half to send Villanova to intermission with a 22-19 lead.
The Wildcat defense held St. John's to just two points over the final 8:36 of the second quarter.
Orihel led the Wildcats in the first half with 10 points, while Runyan had seven first half points.
Vilanova trailed 30-29 midway through the third quarter, when the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to open-up a 35-30 lead. The six points included two lay-ups by Runyan and a short jumper by freshman
Brynn McCurry.
The Wildcats would use the run to lead 37-34 after three.
After two Runyan free throws gave Villanova a 44-43 advantage with 4:23 to play in the game, the Red Storm took the lead for good when Archer scored on an offensive rebound put back at the 3:49 mark. The Wildcats missed three shots to take the lead over the next 2:28 and the Red Storm pushed their lead to 48-44 when Jailah Donald buried a three-ball from straight away with 1:21 on the clock.
Villanova junior guard
Lucy Olsen connected on two free throws with 55 seconds to go to make it a 48-46 game. The Wildcats then forced a St. John's turnover with 29.6 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Villanova got the ball to Orihel who had her shot blocked and the Red Storm had possession with 15.1 seconds left.
Ber'Nyah Mayo went one-of-two from the foul line for the Red Storm and Villanova was down 49-46. The Wildcats called timeout and advanced the ball to the front court where they ran a play for Olsen to attempt a game-tying three. Olsen got the ball on the left wing, took two dribbles and fired the triple that was blocked by Mayo. St. John's then put the game away with two Donald free throws with 11.1 seconds to play.
In the loss, Runyan led Villanova with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Orihel was the second Wildcat in double figures with 12 points.
St. John's was paced by Unique Drake with 16 points and Archer who posted a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
For the game, Villanova was 17-of-56 from the field (30.4%), 4-of-22 from three-point range (18.2%) and 8-of-8 from the foul line, while St. John's shot 39.2 percent from the floor (20-of-51), 25.0 percent from long distance (5-of-20) and 54.5 percent from the charity stripe (6-of-11). The Red Storm owned a 43-29 advantage on the backboards. Villanova committed just six turnovers.
Villanova returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 21, with a game at La Salle. Game time is set for noon.
NOTES: Villanova had won nine-straight over St. John's before tonight's loss…The Wildcats are now 0-2 all-time at Madison Square Garden…Villanova drops to 2-4 on the road this season…This was the only meeting of the season between the two teams…The Wildcat bench tallied 17 points.
