Sacred Heart Overpowered by St. John's in Fourth Quarter in 67-54 Loss

Thursday, December 3

Collegeville, MN

7 pm

Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics

St. John's

Sacred Heart Overpowered by St. John's in Fourth Quarter in 67-54 Loss

12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

QUEENS, N.Y. (December 3, 2015)—Shelby Hickey (Littleton, Colo.) led the Pioneers with a season-best 12 points as the St. John's overpowered the Sacred Heart women's basketball team in the fourth quarter in the 67-54 loss, which drops the SHU to 1-5 this season.

In a close game that saw the lead change sides 21 times, the fourth quarter was the difference maker. After Sacred Heart held a 31-30 lead at halftime, the Red Storm came back to tie the game at 48 and take their final lead in the last 43 seconds of the third quarter on consecutive layup from Aaliyah Handford, who led all players with 24 points. Two points didn't seem like much of a lead in this game, but St. John's dominated the fourth quarter outscoring SHU 17-6.

Sacred Heart travels to Vermont on Sunday for the fifth game of their six-game road trip taking on the Catamounts at 2:00 p.m.

Inside the Box:

The Pioneers shot well throughout the game, posting a .438 field goal percentage over all, highlighted by shooting .462 from the floor in the first half
For the first time this season only two Pioneers reached double-digit points. Hickey with a team-leading 12, and Alissa Tarsi (Clinton, N.J.) with 10
The Red Storm shot 53.3% during its second-half comeback
Handford led all players with 24 points. She was one of three members of the Red Storm to reach double-digits
For the second straight game, Sacred Heart committed 20-plus turnovers. Tonight, SHU committed 25, which led to 22 points for St. John's

Noteworthy:

Tykera Carter (Alexandria, Va.) earned the first start of her college career
Kelcey Castro (Fairlawn, N.J.) grabbed a career-high seven rebounds
Shelby Hickey (Littleton, Colo.) tallied a season-best 12 points

First Quarter:

After Hannah Kimmel (Harpursville, N.Y.) gave SHU an early lead, 4-3, from the free throw line less than three minutes into the first half, the first of eight unanswered points for the Pioneers over the next three minutes
As soon as Alissa Tarsi (Clinton, N.J.) landed the second-chance layup with just over five minutes left in the first quarter giving SHU a 10-3 lead, St. John's Head Coach Joe Tartamella called a timeout
The break proved fruitful for the Red Storm, who went on a nine-point run to claim a 12-10 lead with 2:26 remaining in the period. Kimmel snapped the streak with a triple giving SHU the one-point advantage with time ticking down. SJU's Jade Walker answered with a jumper in the paint giving the Red Storm a 14-13 lead going into the second quarter

Second Quarter:

The teams exchanged shots in the opening half of the 10-minute period, but it was 5'6" shooting guard Castro who put the Pioneers back on top 23-22 with back-to-back buckets from downtown before the 4:25 media timeout
Back-and-forth action continued throughout the period as the score tied a total of four times and the lead changed hands 11 times
Sacred Heart went into the final minute of the half leading 28-26 thanks to a layup from Adaysha Williams (LaCrosse, Wis.), but with 58 seconds on the clock, Akina Wellere even the score with a pair from the foul line
On their next possession, the Pioneers took a 31-28 lead as Kimmel found Hickey on the left wing for three
The Red Storm cut SHU's lead down to just one point, 31-30, with 20 seconds left with Danaejah Grant's jumper
With just four seconds on the clock, Aliyyah Handford grabbed the rebound off a Sacred Heart missed shot. Charging down the court, Handford was one-on-one with Hickey as the final second of the period counted down on the scoreboard. The senior guard plowed into Hickey taking her down and getting called for an offensive foul. Hickey's stop preserved the Pioneers' 31-30 lead going into halftime

Third Quarter:

SHU and St. John's continued to exchange baskets to open the third quarter. The Red Storm took it's first lead of the half, 37-35, at the 6:30 mark with Wellere's three, but Hickey answered with one of her own to put the Pioneers ahead 38-37. The junior improved Sacred Heart's lead by one knocking down one of two shots from the charity stripe less than 30 seconds later.
With 4:22 on the clock, Handford sparked a six-point SJU streak with lay-in, giving the Red Storm a 43-39 lead and forcing SHU Head Coach Jessica Mannetti to call a timeout
Down by three, Tarsi hit a jumper in the pair followed by five straight points from Hickey and Kimmel giving SHU the four-point advantage, 48-44, with a minute left in the period
Three SHU turnovers in the final minute led to six consecutive St. John's points, giving the Red Storm a 50-48 lead heading into the game's final 10 minutes

Fourth Quarter:

St. John's expanded its lead as it held SHU scoreless for the first three minutes of the quarter. Williams landed the first basket of the period for the Pioneers making it 58-50 in favor of the Red Storm
SJU clinched the victory ending the game on a 9-2 streak