St. John’s basketball picked up a much needed victory heading into its holiday break.
In the midst of a five-game losing streak and its holiday break just hours away, the St. John’s basketball team knew it had to handle business at home against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday afternoon.
However, it was absent of its typical lights-out shooting from stars Qadashah Hoppie and Leilani Correa.
The duo shot a combined 8-of-23 from the floor and 3-of-16 from 3-point range but the Lady Johnnies (3-5, 0-3 Big East) were able to rally from a 12-point third quarter deficit to defeat the Bonnies (1-3, 0-1 Atlantic-10), 60-57.
“This ends what has been an extremely interesting up-and-down beginning to the year, so I am pleased with the way that we were able to perform in the fourth quarter. We were able to finish the game well and I was happy with the way that we were able to execute late in the game and being able to use our fouls to our advantage,” head coach Joe Tartamella said.
However, Correra was able to finish with a double-double with 11 points and ten rebounds.
In the midst of its run, the Red Storm saw contributions up and down its roster, including big shots from Emma Nolan, Raven Farley, and Kadaja Bailey.
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Nolan finished the game with eight points, the team’s third leading scorer, on 3-of-6 shooting in just ten minutes while Farley ended with six points and seven rebounds.
Unique Drake tied the game at 46 with the first bucket of the fourth quarter and Correa followed that with a layup, giving St. John’s a lead it would not relinquish.
St. John’s basketball feeling good going into holiday break
Naturally the Red Storm needed a victory before its two weeks off for Christmas and New Years and now the team will be heading into its break with a positive mentality.
“Some of these players have been here for quite some time. Our athletic department, our leadership, has done an incredible job to keep these players safe. An ancillary part to that is you have a situation where you have played for a long period of time,” Tartamella said.
St. John’s also has been dealing with a slew of injuries this season, most notable to Correa and Hoppie and the break will allow the two stars to heal and rest before the heart of the Big East schedule arrives in January and February.
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“We have a big stretch of Big East games coming up, and those are really important. So, it’s important for us to enjoy the holidays, but also be focused when we come back and be ready to go,” Hoppie explained.
The Red Storm are scheduled to return to the court on Wednesday, January 6 against the Xavier Musketeers in Queens.