The Big East Conference released the 2024-25 Women’s Basketball schedule on Sept. 25, which includes all conference matchups ahead of the season’s November start.
After 11 non-conference competitions, the Johnnies will start their Big East campaign away from home against fellow 2024 Big East Tournament quarter-finalists Villanova on Dec. 21. The team will host their conference home opener a week later against No. 23 Creighton at Carnesecca Arena.
College basketball powerhouse UConn, led by 2024 Big East Player of the Year Paige Beuckers and 11-time National Champion Coach Geno Auriemma, comes to Queens on Jan. 15. The reigning 2024 Big East Champions enter the season third in the AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll. St. John’s lost to the Huskies last season in a 49-92 blowout at UBS Arena, where Beuckers shot a season-high 88.9% from the field.
Following a home game against 2024 WBIT finalist Villanova on Jan. 18, the Johnnies will travel to Washington, D.C. to face Georgetown on Jan. 22. The team will seek revenge for their 44-53 loss in the first round of the Big East Tournament at the hands of the Hoyas last year.
The loss of last season’s top scorer Unique Drake will force the Red Storm to rely on new leaders to fill the hole left by their former captain. Head Coach Joe Tartamella used a mixture of transfer students and recruiting to make six additions to the roster for his 12th season as the Red Storm’s coach.
St. John’s added experience with a sizable group of transfers – graduate student forward Jade Blagrove, senior guard Lashae Dwyer, junior forward Kylie Lavelle and graduate student guard Ariana Vanderhoop. These adds will help provide a fresh start to the new season.
Blagrove was a member of the Manhattan Jaspers last season and where she had one of her best games at Carnesecca against St. John’s, scoring 16 in a losing effort. The Netherlands native averaged 8.4 points and 7.4 rebounds last season.
Dwyer had her best scoring season last year after three seasons with the Miami Hurricanes. The Canadian averaged 6.7 points and 1.5 steals in her junior season.
Lavelle scored nine points and pulled down four rebounds when she faced the Red Storm last season with Penn State. The Pennsylvanian averaged 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds and assisted the Lions to a semi-finals run in the WBIT.
Vanderhoop comes off a season with the Monmouth Hawks, where she earned Third Team All-CAA honors. The five-foot-nine guard averaged 10.6 points last season and had 11 on Nov. 23 against St. John’s.
St. John’s added two freshmen: four-star guard A’riel Little and forward Janeya Grant. As a member of ESPNW Top-100, Little is the program’s highest-ranked recruit since 2018.
The 2022 season was one of the Red Storm’s most successful in recent history, where they punched a ticket to the NCAA tournament and were ranked as high as No. 24 in the AP Poll. Last year, the program made it through the first round of the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) after an 18-win season.
St. John’s Big East Conference Schedule:
Villanova University on Dec. 21
Creighton University on Dec. 28*
Providence College on Jan. 1
DePaul University on Jan. 7*
Xavier University on Jan. 11
University of Connecticut on Jan. 15*
Villanova University on Jan. 18
Georgetown University on Jan. 22
Seton Hall University on Jan. 25
Providence College on Jan. 29*
Xavier University on Feb. 2*
Marquette University on Feb. 5
University of Connecticut on Feb. 12
Butler University on Feb. 16*
Creighton University on Feb. 19
Seton Hall University on Feb. 23*
Georgetown University on Feb. 26*
Depaul University on Mar. 2
*Home Games
