Box Score
St. John's Quotes | Seton Hall Quotes
CHICAGO — Five players scored in double figures led by Chicago native Akina Wellere’s game-high 18 points as No. 9 seed St. John's used a strong second half to beat No. 8 seed Seton Hall 76-51 in a BIG EAST Women’s Tournament First Round game on Saturday.
Curteeona Brelove collected 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, Qadashah Hoppie had 13 points while Kadaja Bailey and Tiana England each added 11 in the tourney opener at Wintrust Arena.
The Red Storm (15-15) face No. 17 Marquette, the BIG EAST regular season champ and tourney top seed, in Sunday’s first of four quarterfinals games.
Selena Philoxy scored 14 points while Inja Butina and Shadeen Samuels each added 11 as Seton Hall closed at 15-15.
Hoppie, a sophomore forward from Staten Island, had a team-high 10 points to help St. John’s to a 38-34 halftime lead. After 13 lead changes and six ties, the Red Storm used a 6-0 run late in the half for their four-point lead.
St. John’s extended the lead to as many as 16 points in the third quarter behind Brelove’s nine points en route to a 59-43 edge entering the final 10 minutes. The Red Storm steadily extended the lead through the fourth quarter.
The victory was the first in three meetings for St. John’s.
The regional rivals traveled more than 700 miles for their second meeting in six days. Seton Hall beat St. John’s 76-72 on March 3 on the road to complete a regular season sweep and break a six-game losing streak.
BIG EAST Tournament play continues with Monday’s semifinals followed by Tuesday’s title game.