No. 6 seed St. John’s women’s basketball lives to fight another day in the always competitive Big East Tournament. In their first matchup, the Red Storm overcame a six-point deficit to get the upper hand over 11th-seeded Xavier on March 6 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.
Forward Sa’Mya Wyatt and guard Brooke Moore led the Johnnies to a 53-48 triumph with 16 points each. Wyatt had control over the backboards, snagging 12 rebounds against the Musketeers.
“I have been really trying to work on that,” Wyatt said during a postgame press conference about her rebounding. “Honestly, I give all credit to my teammates, having that trust to give the ball to me and have me go to work.”
Janeya Grant scored 13 points off the bench in support of Wyatt and Moore. The trio was St. John’s lone source of offense against a team they swept in the regular season. Their next matchup will be against the third-seeded Seton Hall.
“Janeya was great. She was aggressive. That’s what you want. When she’s playing really well, she helps those guys tremendously because she can stretch the floor,” head coach Joe Tartamella said of Grant’s performance.
The Red Storm got on the board early in the first quarter thanks to a Jailah Donald three-pointer. But six consecutive points from MacKenzie Givens put the Musketeers in front.
Grant issued a timely response on a long-range shot, as Mariyah Noel did the same at the other end. Donald inserted her name into the mix, hitting her second triple at the buzzer.
Both teams remained on the attack, scoring consecutive back-to-back baskets to start the second quarter. St. John’s jumped into the lead when Wyatt made a shot from deep. Grant got another shot to fall, only for Vivien Nejašmic to hit a triple in the final seconds of the second quarter.
This gave Xavier a 27-26 halftime lead, as they outscored their opponent by the same one point margin in the first quarter.
The Musketeers scored five points to kickstart the second half. Moore and Wyatt scored the Johnnies’ first five, as they faced a six-point deficit. The Musketeers’ lead held up to the end of the third quarter, despite Grant and Moore scoring four.
As fate would have it, the tandem of guards was key to St. John’s comeback. The pair combined for five points before Wyatt added three to that total. The scoring frenzy gave the Red Storm a lead they would, ultimately, never surrender.
Moore scored the next five points, which included a deep three-point shot. Noel and Audia Young laid out an immediate five-point response. This brought the Red Storm’s lead down to two.
But Xavier wouldn’t score another point, as St. John’s would do the same for nearly two minutes. Wyatt’s mid-range jumper broke the stalemate and sealed the win.
“So certainly we got to get our rest tonight, regardless of who we’re going to play tomorrow, to make sure we put our plan in place and get out here and play [at] the energy level you’re going to need. But at the end of the day, this time of year, no one’s tired. You’re not allowed to be tired,” Tartamella added.
St. John’s will have a chance to reach the semifinals with a matchup against the No.3 seed Seton Hall on March 7 at 9:30pm.
