Marquette Runs Past St. John's to Secure Title Game Berth
Box Score | Marquette Quotes | St. John's Quotes
CHICAGO — Marquette is back in a familiar spot — the Big East women’s basketball tournament championship game — following a 78-55 semifinals victory over St. John’s on Sunday at Wintrust Arena.
The No. 2 seed Golden Eagles (23-7) meets DePaul, the host and regular season league champ, for the tourney title a 7 p.m. (CT) Monday.
It will be Marquette’s fourth straight appearance in the championship.
Four Marquette players scored in double figures against St. John’s, led by by 18 points from Selena Lott and 14 points and 11 rebounds from Isabelle Spingola. Jordan King and Lauren Van Kleunen each added 12 points.
Leilani Correa paced the No. 3 Red Storm (19-12) with 13 points. Qadashah Hoppie and Tiana England followed with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Marquette never trailed, opening a 20-12 by the end of the first quarter and a 35-30 lead by halftime.
In the third quarter, the Golden Eagles extended the advantage to 12 at 49-37 when St. John’s called a time out with 5:02 left. It didn’t seem to slow Marquette, which moved out to a 56-41 lead entering the final period. The Golden Eagles pulled away from there.
Marquette swept both regular season meetings with the Red Storm, including a 94-85 victory at home on Jan. 10 and a 67-57 decision on Feb. 9 in Queens, N.Y.
Marquette reached the semifinals with a 72-59 quarterfinals win over Villanova. St. John’s scored a 70-54 triumph over Creighton in the quarterfinals.
The Golden Eagles last won the Big East tournament in 2017 while DePaul has won two in-a-row.