Red Storm Rally from Seven-Point Fourth Quarter Deficit to Claim Fifth-Straight Victory
GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman – The St. John’s Women’s Basketball team (6-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) pulled out a tightly contested battle against Georgia Tech (4-3, 0-0 ACC) on Friday evening to open the Cayman Islands Classic, earning its fifth-straight victory, 77-75.
After the Red Storm sprang out to an early double-digit lead, the Yellow Jackets seized control, holding a seven-point advantage with eight minutes remaining in regulation. St. John’s engineered a crucial 12-3 run over the final minutes and received clutch 3-point shooting from Janeya Grant to lift them to victory over the Yellow Jackets inside John Gray Gymnasium.
“Our kids grinded it. I thought we were sleepwalking. We started the game great, and then I thought we sleptwalked through the middle part of the game… It’s 10 minutes. We’ve got to beat them in these 10 minutes, but I thought we grinded hard enough to make plays, so I was really proud of how they finished.”
“Look, both teams shorthanded today, so to see them play that way… We competed at the end.”
Wagner’s Historic Performance
Shaulana Wagner dished out 13 assists—the most by a St. John’s player since Nadirah McKenith recorded 14 on Feb. 26, 2011, against Pittsburgh. The graduate student became the 22nd active player in NCAA Division I to reach the 400-career assist threshold and finished one shy of her career-high. The point guard led the distribution effort, as the Johnnies assisted on 23 of their 25 made field goals (92.0%).
“She’s been great, man. She’s a warrior. I give her credit every time she steps on the floor. She’s got some edge to her, which we like. But, yeah, she battled, and she’s been kind of our center for us in terms of being consistent and level.”
Moore Explodes for Career-High
Brooke Moore exploded for 25 points, setting a new career-high in scoring for the third consecutive game. The junior went 10-for-11 from the charity stripe, including 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter to reach the 20-point mark for the second straight game.
“She’s been improving every game. We really were trying to search there for lineups that were going to work, you know, toward the end. But Brooke was steady. Wagner was steady. Janae Grant was huge for us. So just really proud of that group, especially that group that finished.”
Wyatt’s Consistent Excellence
Sa’Mya Wyatt notched a season-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. The sophomore grabbed seven boards and is averaging 13.5 points per contest over her last four games. Kylie Lavelle reached double-digits for the third straight game, adding 11 points.
“Just trying to pick on things we thought we could, but she was terrific, especially at her start. She’s starting to improve and get more comfortable.”
Dominating the Glass
St. John’s outrebounded one of the nation’s top rebounding teams in Georgia Tech, 35-27. The Johnnies are 6-0 this season when they win the battle on the glass. Wagner and Wyatt tied for the game-high with seven boards.
The Red Storm shot a season-best 18-for-22 (81.8%) from the free throw line and shot over 50 percent from the field (53.8%) for the third time in the last four games.
Quarter-by-Quarter Breakdown
First Quarter Dominance
The Johnnies got off to a scorching start on the island, going 5-for-5 to open the game. Lavelle started it off with a corner triple and continued her scorching opening quarter, tallying 10 of St. John’s first 14 points. Wyatt finished a mid-range jumper to race out to a 12-3 lead and force a Yellow Jackets timeout just 2:29 into the game.
“Kylie started the game beautifully. We were able to find her as well, so I thought that was big, and then we fought, man. We competed at the end.”
“She started. She’s finally started to get to where we need her to be.”
Beautiful Waheed swiped a steal and turned on the burners for the open fastbreak lay-up as the Red Storm lead ballooned to as many as 12, 21-8, with 4:06 left in the first quarter. Wagner found Moore for a triple to record her 400th-career assist. The Red Storm held a 10-point advantage, 23-13, after the opening 10 minutes and shot 69.2 percent (9-13) during the first frame.
Second Quarter Surge
Heading into the second stanza, Wyatt caught fire, logging eight of the team’s first 11 points of the frame. The sophomore showed off fancy footwork, knocking down the turnaround jumper and finishing inside off a dime from Ariel Little to carry a 12-point cushion with four minutes to play in the half, 34-22. The Yellow Jackets strung together a 12-4 run to make it a four-point game heading into the locker room.
Third Quarter Battle
In the third quarter, the two squads battled back and forth in Grand Cayman with neither team leading by more than five points. After the Yellow Jackets took their first lead of the game, Waheed came up with a block that turned into a triple from Moore on the other end. Little knocked down a pivotal 3-pointer from the corner as the shot clock dwindled to bring the Red Storm’s lead back to four. Georgia Tech strung together a 9-2 scoring stint to bring a 58-55 edge into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter Heroics
In the final 10 minutes, Georgia Tech extended its advantage to as many as seven with 8:02 remaining in regulation. St. John’s crawled back before Grant nailed the game-tying 3-pointer, 68-68 with 4:35 to play.
With the Red Storm holding a one-point lead, Daniela Abies came up with a crucial block to give the Johnnies possession. Grant cashed in from beyond-the-arc once again to propel the lead to four, 75-71, with 1:05 remaining.
In the final minute, the Yellow Jackets trailed by a basket with a chance to tie or take the lead with 0:25 on the clock. Wagner took a pivotal charge to give the Johnnies the ball back. Lavelle and Grant split at the charity stripe as Georgia Tech had one last chance to tie or win it at the buzzer. Abies smothered the ball-handler, swiping away any opportunity to get a shot off as the clock ran out, moving the Red Storm to 6-1 on the year.
Looking Ahead
St. John’s will be back in action to close out the Cayman Island Classic against Memphis tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. ET on FloSports.
” We’re here to win. So we got to win games. And this was a big one for us in the first game.”
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Red Storm Related News:
- St. John’s Women’s Basketball Dominates Central Connecticut State 71-46; Red Storm Rolls to Fourth Straight Victory
- St. John’s Falls to West Virginia in Overtime Heartbreaker, 4-3, in NCAA Tournament First Round
- Erin Jones Makes History: St. John’s Star Joins Elite 1,000-1,000-1,000 Club
Game Statistics Summary
St. John’s (NY) – 77
- FG: 25-47 (53.2%)
- 3PT: 9-24 (37.5%)
- FT: 18-22 (81.8%)
- Rebounds: 35
- Assists: 23
- Turnovers: 22
Georgia Tech – 75
- FG: 26-61 (42.6%)
- 3PT: 5-16 (31.3%)
- FT: 18-25 (72.0%)
- Rebounds: 27
- Assists: 15
- Turnovers: 8
Leading Scorers:
- St. John’s: Brooke Moore (25), Sa’Mya Wyatt (20), Kylie Lavelle (11)
- Georgia Tech: Catherine Alben (18), Talayah Walker (18), D’Asia Thomas-Harris (11)
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