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St. John’s Topped Xavier Friday Night to Wrap Up Opening Round Action

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UNCASVILLE, Conn. – No. 6 seed St. John’s weathered the storm and overcame a six-point fourth quarter deficit to secure a 53-48 win over No. 11 seed Xavier Friday night in the final first round game of the 2026 BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Tournament Presented by Jeep.
 
Junior guard Brooke Moore scored 10 of her co-game high 16 points in the fourth quarter to lead the surge. The Red Storm will return to Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. ET to take on No. 3 seed Seton Hall. The game will air on Peacock/NBCSN.
 
St. John’s sophomore forward Sa’Mya Wyatt also finished with 16 points, while Xavier was led by senior guard Savannah White’s 11 points.
 
Xavier rebounded from an early punch from St. John’s in the opening quarter, responding to a Red Storm 3-pointer that made it 5–1 with a strong surge of their own. The Musketeers ripped off a 10–0 run to flip the momentum and take an 11–5 advantage, capitalizing on St. John’s ball-handling struggles and turning defense into quick points. Despite the early miscues — the Red Storm committed six of their eight first-half turnovers in the period — St. John’s steadied itself late in the quarter and chipped away at the deficit. By the end of the frame, the teams were nearly even, with Xavier narrowly holding a 16–15 lead after an energetic and back-and-forth opening ten minutes.
 
Trading a pair of runs in the second quarter, the Musketeers held a slight 27-26 lead at the break. Sophomore guard MacKenzie Givens led all scorers through the opening 20 minutes with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while Wyatt and sophomore guard Janeya Grant poured in nine points apiece for the Red Storm. Xavier shot 12-of-33 (.364) from the field and 2-of-14 (.143) from beyond the arc in the opening half, while St. John’s was 10-of-29 (.345) and 4-of-11 (.364), respectively.
 
The Musketeers matched their largest lead of the game, 32-26, with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter following a 5-0 run to jumpstart the second half. Overall, Xavier extended the lead to six points on five separate occasions in the third quarter and held a 41-35 lead with 10 minutes to go.
 
St. John’s began a run of its own early in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to one, 41-40 with 9:09 to play. Xavier’s White snapped a 3:09 scoring drought for the Musketeers with a layup to push the lead back to three, however back-to-back layups, plus a free throw, gave St. John’s its first lead since the waning seconds of the first half, 45-43.
 
The Red Storm would not look back, securing the victory with a 18-7 fourth quarter.
 
Overall, St. John’s hit 20-of-55 shots from the field, while Xavier was 21-of-63, as both teams made five 3-pointers. The Red Storm held a 15-6 advantage in bench points.