The women’s basketball team is really giving it their all with 11 wins out of seventeen conference games, and being ranked 3rd in conference. The Red Storm turned around from their last lost against Butler in the beginning of January by winning 60-49, achieving their 20th overall win for the 2014-2015 season in Indianapolis, Indiana.
According to the press release, Head Coach Joe Tartamella was very excited by the win and said, “This was a great team win for us on the road.”
Aliyyah Handford, junior, really shined through with twenty-one points, 9 rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Amber Thompson, senior, broke her own personal record of 313 set from 2013-2014 season to three more points for this year. This was all thanks to her 14 tallied rebounds that this forward dominated, which is a great achievement since it is her last year. On top of that she took eight points home along with three rebounds.
A few other great players that pushed through St. John’s women’s basketball second game against the Bulldogs, was Jade Walker, sophomore, who took 10 points and eleven rebounds all in less than 40 minutes of the game. She also recorded her third double-double for this season. Along with Walker, it was Danaejah Grant, junior, who finished with 13, points overall.
The game itself was very fast, as the Red Storm were in lead 9-3 in the first few minutes of the game, leaving no time for Butler to catch up soon after, even when the Bulldogs caught up only for a short second. Since Grant quickly destroyed them as she dominated a layup right before halftime, making the score 21-14. The Bulldogs were vigorously trying to catch up to SJU’s 33-28 lead after halftime, as one of their players scored 5 points. Seeing Butler struggle to follow closely behind made Hartford 6 points and a layup for freshmen, Crystal Simmons.
With only 12 minutes left, the Red Storm kept pushing and making sure that their lead gap wouldn’t close in tight, leaving no time for catching up for Butler, and by the team using a defensive strategy that does not allow the opponent team to score more than 50 points. And by the outcome of the Butler game at Hinkle Fieldhouse, it seems that St. John’s is really finishing strong for the 2014-2015 season.
