Indy Standard

St. John’s Holds Off @ButlerUWBB in Queens 67-65

Butler took a tough 67-65 loss to St. John's on Wednesday night at Carnesecca Arena. The Bulldogs had the ball with a chance to tie the game on the final possession, but the Red Storm would get a stop. With the win, the Johnnies secured their 13th-straight home win to set a new program record.

 

How It Happened

Butler opened the game by scoring 15 points in each quarter, but they would trail the Red Storm by two at the half 32-30. Anna Mortag was the driving force behind the Butler offense with a game-high 13 points in 14 minutes of playing time.

 

Mortag shot 3-for-4 from behind the arc helping BU to shoot 55% from distance in the first half (6-11). St. John's took a different approach by pounding the ball inside. The Johnnies shot 58 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes getting eight points from Rayven Peeples and seven off the bench from Unique Drake. 22 of their first 32 points were scored in the paint.

 

The Bulldogs outscored St. John's 14-9 at the start of the third quarter to grab a 44-41 lead at the media timeout. A 10-0 run allowed BU to expand their lead to 49-41 with 3:10 to play, but the Johnnies roared back with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 49-49. STJ beat the buzzer to end the third quarter and the two teams would be separated by just two points heading into the final 10 minutes.

 

The start of the fourth quarter was a grind that featured just four combined points over the first five minutes. The final five minutes however were action packed for the fans at Carnesecca. Jaynes tied the game at 57-57 and the Bulldogs took a slim one-point lead at 60-59 with 3:26 to play in the game. Drake regained the lead for STJ and Everett hit a huge 3-pointer to push the score to 64-60. Butler answered with a big three from Shay Frederick to get back within one-point at 64-63.

 

Butler was forced to foul in an attempt to extend the game and the strategy paid off. They got the ball back with 10.3 seconds with a two-point deficit and called timeout to advance the ball. BU took the possession down to the final seconds and had a good look for the tie, but the ball rimmed out to give STJ the 67-65 victory.

 

Postgame Parkinson Quotes

"It was a good first half and we were able to get the lead in the third quarter but obviously, we knew St. John's was going to punch back. Each team competed and it was a battle out there, a grind it out game. I'm really encouraged by how our team played. I thought Sydney Jaynes battled. I thought Rachel played great and Anna had some nice offensive plays, but tonight collectively, our team showed some toughness. We wanted to walk out of here with a win, but we are heading in the right direction and we will continue to learn from these types of games."

 

Stat of the Game

Butler shot 50 percent from 3-point range, making 10 of their 20 attempts.

 

Inside the Box Score

- Anna Mortag hit three of her four 3-point attempts to net 15 points

- Rachel McLimore also scored 15 points for the Bulldogs while adding five assists

- Sydney Jaynes had 12 points, five assists, four rebounds and a block at St. John's

- There were 18 lead changes and seven ties tonight

- Each team scored 35 second half points

- Butler shot 48 percent from the field and St. John's even better at 52 percent

- Each team collected 26 rebounds Wednesday night

- Pittsburgh transfer Jayla Everett was limited to just nine points

- Kadaja Bailey played in her 135th game for St. John's tonight to set a new program record.

- Bailey has scored in double figures in 21 of her last 24 games

- Eight of the 12 players on St. John's have played four years of college basketball

Original source can be found here.