The St. John’s women’s basketball teams’ program-leading 11 game winning streak was snapped after a disappointing 60-57 loss on the road to Georgetown Tuesday night. The Red Storm had a tough game all-around but poor free throw shooting and a lack of presence in the paint made Tuesday’s loss inevitable.
Heading into the game, St. John’s (19-6, 12-2) climbed up the national ranks to No.22 after beating Big East rival Villanova 69-56 last Saturday. The Red Storm out rebounded the Wildcats in that game 54-31 but Georgetown (9-18, 3-12) crashed the boards finishing with a 36-30 edge in the rebounding department. The Hoyas dominated in the paint on offense as well out scoring the Lady Johnnies 44-28.
“Tonight we did not execute to our capabilities and that was disappointing,” St. John’s head coach Joe Tartamella said. “Georgetown did a great job of capitalizing on our missed opportunities.”
Junior forward Amber Thompson recorded her sixth double-double of the season finishing with a game high 14 points and 11 rebounds. Thompson also had a career-high in blocks with 6 and tied her career-high with 3 steals. Sophomore guard and reigning Big East player of the week Aliyyah Handford finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.
Despite their poor record this season, Georgetown has been shooting 41.7% from the field and has been holding their opponents to a 37.5% shooting percentage prior to Tuesday’s contest which ranks third and second respectively in the Big East.
St. John’s led by as much as 10 points in the first half but Georgetown brought the score to 31-29 heading in to the locker room. The Hoya’s came out on fire shooting 50.0% from the field in the second half while holding the Red Storm to 36.5% field goal percentage for the game. Despite their struggles, St. John’s pulled to within one point with 22 seconds left thanks to a pair of free throws made by senior guard Briana Brown. St. John’s gave a valiant effort but failed to come away with the win.
Nothing is more important that free throw shooting when games, such as this one, come down to the wire. St. John’s struggled from the charity stripe shooting 15-23.
“We left a lot of points out there on the floor at the rim and at the foul line,” Tartamella said. “We need to be much better as we face another tough opponent on the road on Sunday.”
St. John’s will try to shake of the loss when they finish their two-game road trip on Sunday against Creighton at 3.pm.
