In their fourth game of the season, the St. John’s women’s basketball team delivered its best performance yet. The Red Storm kicked off a three-game homestand with a 88-60 blowout win over the Yale Bulldogs, advancing to 3-1 on the young season.
St. John’s set the tone early, going on a 15-4 run, turning stifling defense into offense. They managed to get some crucial steals from guards Sa’Mya Wyatt and Brooke Moore, while Skye Owen poured in five points in the first quarter to help the Red Storm close
out the quarter with a 26-14 lead.
The Red Storm’s dominance continued in the second quarter. They went on an 18-0 run, holding Yale scoreless for most of the quarter. Multiple Red Storm players had it going in the second period, including Moore and Wyatt, who continued their hot hand in converting on two big-time layups, along with some big shots from freshman forward Kyla Hayes, who hit a three-pointer late in the second half to snag the 25-point lead heading into halftime.
Their hot shooting half would see the Red Storm finish the first half with a 50-25 lead, shooting a blazing 63% from the field and 54.5% from behind the arc.
St. John’s didn’t let up in the second half, building its largest lead of the day at 74-32 in the third quarter, scoring 22 points in the period.
“I thought this was our best performance from an offensive standpoint,” head coach Joe Tartamella said postgame, “We felt pretty good about our ability to score, but we haven’t played as well in the last few games offensively. I was pleased to see that we’re a little more organized. We still need to continue getting better in a lot of areas, but how we came out today, I thought we started the game great.”
Three Johnnies scored in double digits throughout the contest. Liberty transfer Brooke Moore led the team with a career high of 16 points. Junior guard Beautiful Waheed chipped in with 13 points and a block, while Sa’Mya Wyatt had 14 points, three assists, and three rebounds on 7-8 shooting from the field.
The Johnnies generated 28 points off turnovers. Their defense held Yale under 30 points in the first half while keeping the Bulldogs scoreless multiple times throughout the contest. St. John’s also dominated the paint, taking 50 shots inside and finishing the game shooting 58.3% from the field.
It was an impressive early-season win for St. John’s women’s team. The team has already
picked up some key wins over Quinnipiac and Le Moyne this season, and seems to be clicking
offensively.
St. John’s will get their biggest test of the season so far when they play host to No. 20 Oklahoma State on Wednesday, November 19 (7 p.m., ESPN+).
