St. John’s uses strong finish to storm into Big East semifinals
St. John's Quotes Georgetown Quotes
By Jack McCarthy
Special to
BigEast.com
CHICAGO — Aliyyah Handford scored 22 points and Danaejah Grant added 18 as St. John’s pulled away down the stretch for a 65-52 Big East tournament quarterfinal win over Georgetown on Sunday.
The No. 4 seed Red Storm (21-9) went from a shaky five-point lead to 10 over a five-minute span in the fourth quarter while the Hoyas (16-13) missed four shots and committed three turnovers.
St. John’s claimed a Monday semifinals date with top-seed and regular season champion DePaul at 5:30 p.m. on the Blue Demons home court.
Dorothy Adomako scored 15 points, Faith Woodard had 14 and Dionna White added 10 for Georgetown.
Handford had 13 points and Grant added 10 through a see-saw first half that featured six lead changes and two ties. St. John’s ultimately claimed a 35-32 lead at intermission.
The Red Storm went ahead for good at 46-45 on a Handford layup with 2:32 left in the third quarter.
Handford was named Big East defensive player of the year. Handford and Grant also earned first-team honors.
The victory was the fifth straight over Georgetown and ninth in the last 10 meetings. St. John’s swept two regular season meetings with Georgetown, including a 63-55 home win on Feb. 14.
The Hoyas entered the tournament with two straight wins in one of the nation’s top turnaround seasons, dramatically improving from a four-win campaign in 2014-15.
DePaul swept two regular season meetings from St. John’s, including a 77-71 decision in Chicago on Jan. 31.