QUEENS, N.Y. — Carnesecca Arena didn’t feel comfortable early. Xavier walked in sharp, confident, and ready to scrap, and St. John’s looked a step slow — the kind of lethargic start that makes a home crowd shift in its seat. But by the time the fourth quarter hit, the building had flipped with the game.
St. John’s finished the night by burying Xavier 71–52, turning a one-point halftime edge into a second-half avalanche on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
The opening: Xavier lands first
Xavier struck first and kept landing. The Musketeers jumped out 9–2, and even when St. John’s answered with threes, the Johnnies couldn’t quite grab control. Xavier’s early shot-making and physicality had St. John’s chasing, and the visitors carried a 17–14 lead after one.
The grind: St. John’s claws back before the break
The second quarter got uncomfortable again when Xavier pushed the lead to 10. That’s the kind of margin that can get loud in a hurry — not because the crowd is roaring, but because it’s waiting.
St. John’s didn’t panic. Daniela Abies steadied things at the line, and Janeya Grant’s threes gave the Red Storm a jolt when they needed it most. The Johnnies kept chipping until they finally edged in front, taking a 29–28 lead into halftime.
Head coach Joe Tartamella didn’t sugarcoat the start afterward.
“A slow start for us there… in the second quarter, we got it back. … Look, it was a grind. We knew it would be a grind… We finished really strong.”
The turn: defense becomes oxygen
The third quarter is where the game changed.
St. John’s started getting stops that didn’t just end possessions — they created momentum. Hands in passing lanes. Bodies on the glass. Xavier’s shots suddenly felt rushed. The Musketeers managed only six points in the third, and the arena finally sounded like it was on St. John’s side.
That’s when the Red Storm’s identity showed up: defense that fuels offense.
“I feel like I like defense. I feel like defense gets us to offense,” Beautiful Waheed said. “Once our steals come, once our rebounds come, all we do is run the floor and play as a team.”
Waheed’s four steals were the spark, but the bigger story was the chain reaction: St. John’s turned Xavier turnovers into points, and every stop made the next run easier.
The finish: the fourth-quarter flood
By the fourth, St. John’s wasn’t just winning — it was pouring it on.
The Red Storm dropped 26 in the final period, the kind of closing stretch that turns a grind into a statement. The ball moved, the pace picked up, and the free throws fell. What was a tight game at the break became a runaway by the end.
Tartamella pointed to the way the Johnnies shared the work.
“It was a really good team effort. I mean, 18 assists for 24 baskets for us is really good… We’ll take this one and get ready for another tough one on Saturday.”
The names that mattered
St. John’s got balance and bite.
- Beautiful Waheed: 14 points and four steals
- Brooke Moore: 14 points, playing under control all night
- Sa’Mya Wyatt: 13 points, steady pressure inside
- Jailah Donald: 10 points, five assists, and a pace-setting presence
Moore said her efficiency came down to refusing to get rushed.
“The main thing for me is just not getting sped up and just playing at my pace,” she said. “They do a really good job of trying to bait charges… tonight I was just… focusing on… playing with pace.”
For Xavier, Mariyah Noel fought through the storm for 20 points and 11 rebounds, but once St. John’s pressure tightened, clean looks got harder to find.
Tartamella on NGWSD: “We’re trending in the right direction.”
With the night tied to National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Tartamella zoomed out — past the box score — to what the day represents.
“To see the opportunities that… female athletes… the exposure, the expansion, the popularity… the level of play has really… exploded,” he said. “It wasn’t easy for a lot of the trailblazers… It’s not where it needs to be, but… we’re trending in the right direction.”
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The warning inside the win
Even with the second-half surge, Tartamella made it clear that the first-half energy can’t travel forward.
“I didn’t think we played with a lot of energy… we can’t do that again, especially on Saturday,” he said. “Everybody’s got to level up a little bit.”
St. John’s leveled up in time on Wednesday.
In the second half, the Red Storm didn’t just beat Xavier — it made the fans in Queens feel the shift possession by possession, until the game belonged to the building.
Up next
St. John’s remains home to host Seton Hall at 2 p.m. in Queens for its NGWSD and Play 4 Kay Pink Game.
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