Head Coach Joe Tartamella becomes all-time winningest coach for St. John’s women’s basketball
Produced by: redstormsports.com
February 3, 2022
It was a historic night at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday, as St. John's Women's Basketball Head Coach Joe Tartamella took over sole possession of first place on the program's all-time wins with an 83-63 triumph over Xavier.
With his 177th victory, the head coach passed his former mentor Kim Barnes Arico to overtake the program record. Tartamella spent nine seasons on Barnes Arico's staff, starting as a graduate assistant in 2002 before serving three years as an assistant coach and four seasons as the program's associate head coach. Tartamella has been to six postseasons as the Red Storm's head coach, including a trio of NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2016, his Johnnies won the program's first BIG EAST title since 1988.
Overall, the Johnnies (7-14, 3-8 BIG EAST) went 50.8 percent from the floor and 12-for-25 from beyond the arc during the victory. All five starters scored in double figures with Leilani Correa leading the way when she posted a game-high 20 points and went 4-for-6 from three. Unique Drake followed closely behind the junior with 15 points during the win over Xavier (7-13, 2-9 BIG EAST). Rayven Peeples tallied a double-double with 12 rebounds and 11 points. Kadaja Bailey and Danielle Patterson rounded out the Johnnies' top scorers, chipping in 11 points each.
The Red Storm began the game shooting 42.9 percent from both the floor and beyond the arc. Both Correa and Patterson had five points including a 3-pointer for each player during the period. Despite holding the Musketeers to 6-of-18 from the field, the Johnnies held a slim 16-15 advantage after 10 minutes played.
The St. John's offense found its rhythm early with a 7-0 run, forcing Xavier to burn a timeout with 6:43 remaining in the half and St. John's leading 24-17. Following a basket by the opposition, the Johnnies added a 9-0 run that included a triple by Sara Zabrecky before another Xavier timeout was called with 3:21 to play. The Red Storm closed out the period shooting 72.7 from the floor and 60.0 from the three while holding Xavier to nine points, and at intermission, St. John's went to the locker room with the 39-24 edge.
Coming out of the break, the Johnnies shot 40 percent overall and went 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. The offense for Xavier improved during the period with the Musketeers shooting 47.4 percent but the Red Storm kept the team scoreless from three during the period. Despite being outscored 23-21, the Johnnies led 60-47 with 10 minutes to play.
In the final frame, the Red Storm finished strong, shooting 56.3 percent from the floor while holding Xavier scoreless from three for the second-straight frame. St. John's continued its dominant performance, with Drake adding five points during the period to help the team outscore the Musketeers 23-26 to seal the monumental victory.
The victory marked the 12th-straight win for the Johnnies over Xavier. The Red Storm now leads the all-time series 14-2.
The Red Storm will be back in action on Friday when the team gets set for a BIG EAST battle with Villanova. Tip-off from Carnesecca Arena is slated for 2 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network.