The St. John’s women’s basketball team increased their winning streak to seven games as they easily handled the Xavier Musketeers 80-48.
“This was a great team win for us tonight against a scrappy and tough league opponent”, St. John’s head coach Joe Tartamella said. “We had everyone score in an important win and were able to get the home victory. It was great to watch us play over two great halves of defense.”
“We definitely all wanted this game and the win, more than any game this season,” senior guard Keylantra Langley said.
The Lady Johnnies (15-5, 8-1) were guided to victory on the night by an overall team effort, as every player to come onto the floor was able to score. Amber Thompson recorded a double-double on the night with 10 points and 16 rebounds and Keylantra Langley tied a career-high with 16 points.
“It is the most fun way to play the game”, Langley said. “When all of our shots are falling and everyone is rebounding and playing hard that is what our team is about, that is St. John’s basketball.”
It was all St. John’s in the first half. Led by Thompson (10 points & 14 rebounds) and 13 points by Keylantra Langley, the Red Storm won in every facet of the game. The Lady Johnnies had 22 points of the bench and 16 points off turnovers to give them a big 44-23 lead over Xavier.
The second half was much like the first for St. John’s in that they continued to take it to Xavier (8-13, 3-6) as every player who came on the floor on the night for the Red Storm was able to score. The Lady Johnnies dominated on the glass as well, outrebounding the Musketeers 44-22 on the night. They also took control of the paint outscoring Xavier 42-16 on their way to a blowout victory.
“It’s nice to know we can count on the bench”, Tartamella said. “I think our depth is one of the biggest things going for this team. Our entire bench gives us contributions and it’s great to see them score 44 points tonight. We need that to continue for us to be successful.”
The Red Storm will next head to South Orange, N.J. on Saturday Feb. 1 to play the Seton Hall Pirates.
“We got to take one game at a time”, Tartamella said. Going on the road you got to have a really refined focus and be ready to play. Our players will be ready and so will theirs [Seton Hall].”
