Correa’s 27 Points Sends St. John’s to Semifinal Sunday
Box Score | Creighton Quotes
CHICAGO — No. 3 seed St. John’s shook off early scoring struggles to catch and pass sixth seed Creighton for a 70-54 Big East quarterfinals victory on Saturday at Wintrust Arena.
The Red Storm (19-11) completed a three-game season sweep of the Bluejays (19-11) and meet No. 2 seed Marquette in Sunday’s semifinals.
Leilani Correa collected a game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds, Alisha Kebbe had 13 points and Tiana England added 11. Jaylyn Agnew led the Bluejays with 21 points.
The Bluejays grabbed the early advantage, opening with an 18-3 run en route to a 20-5 first quarter lead. The Red Storm replied with a 25-point second quarter to forced a 30-30 halftime tie behind a combined 16 points from England and Kebbe.
Early in the third quarter St. John’s jumped into a 33-30 lead — its first since early in the game — on Alissa Alston’s 3-pointer. Alston had eight points in the period while Correa added seven as the Red Storm opened a 51-44 lead by quarter’s end.
The Red Storm used an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter to build an 61-48 lead and some distance with less than four minutes to play.
St. John’s scored a 63-58 victory over Creighton on Jan 19 and completed the regular season sweep with a 77-70 decision on Feb. 14.
Prior to the game, the Big East honored recipients of all-conference honors, including Agnew, a Creighton senior and Player of the Year. Teammate Temi Carda earned honorable mention honors.
Big East Sixth Woman of the Year honors went to St. John’s Correa, who also placed on the All-Freshman team. Qadashah Hoppie landed on the league’s second team.