QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John’s women’s basketball team authoritatively kicked off postseason play on Thursday night, defeating Marist, 68-47, in a wire-to-wire win to begin the WNIT.
“It was really good to see them get out and see shots go through the net,” St. John’s head coach
Joe Tartamella said. “During our droughts this game, we were able to get stops which I thought was the difference in this game compared to some of the other ones. It was a great job.”
The Johnnies were led by the senior duo of
Maya Singleton and
Imani Littleton, each of whom recorded a double-double for the Red Storm. Singleton tallied 12 points, 11 boards and four assists for her team-leading 17th double-double of the year, while Littleton finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, both of which were season highs.The effort marked her first double-double of the campaign and her fourth as a Johnnie.
Andrayah Adams scored 10 of her team-high 14 points in the second half, while
Akina Wellere added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with three steals.
Alisha Kebbe chipped in 10 points in the Johnnies’ winning effort.
A squad that was anchored by its defense throughout the regular season, the Red Storm continued that trend in the opening round of the WNIT, turning 19 Marist turnovers in 24 points and limiting the Red Foxes to a season-low 47 points. Marist shot just 33 percent from the floor (16-of-48) and 20 percent from beyond the arc (3-of-15).
Singleton burst on to the scene early with drive to the basket in the opening seconds of play to set the Johnnies up on an early 7-0 run that included a three-point shot from Kebbe and a jumper off the hands of Littleton.
Marist finally got on the board after a few minutes of play but could not seem to keep up with the Johnnies, who were 6-of-12 from the field at the first media timeout and led 13-4. Coming out of the timeout, the Johnnies allowed the Red Foxes two shots from the charity stripe before holding them to a scoreless for the next three minutes of play.
At the close of the first frame, the Johnnies held a commanding 21-12 lead thanks in large part to eight points from Littleton.
Marist stayed close to start the second quarter, pulling within six, 26-20, after a 6-0 spurt early in the frame. Trailing by seven, 29-22, with 4:08 to go in the opening half, the Red Foxes saw the Johnnies embark on an 8-0 run to close the stanza and enter the locker room with a 37-22 advantage.
Marist scored the third quarter’s opening points with a shot from beyond the arc, but Littleton did not hesitate to respond, carrying over her first-half momentum with an early layup to ignite another 7-0 run for the Johnnies. Capped by a triple from Wellere, this tear gave the Red Storm a 44-25 edge, its largest lead of the night thus far.
The Red Foxes cut into the Johnnies’ lead with an 8-0 run of their own to pull within 11, but the Red Storm kept Marist at bay. After moving ahead again by as many as 16, Coach Tartamella’s squad held a 12-point lead, 50-38, heading into the final frame.
The Red Storm continued to limit the Red Foxes offensively over the final 10 minutes of play, holding Marist to just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting, including an 0-of-3 effort from beyond the arc. The Johnnies had no trouble finding the bottom of the bucket; however, extending their lead to as many as 21 by the final whistle.
St. John’s will go on to play the winner of tomorrow’s contest between Albany and Penn. The date, time and location for that game have yet to be determined.