Creighton WBB Faces St. John's in BIG EAST Tournament Opener
3/6/2015 7:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. - In the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament, the No. 5 Creighton Bluejays will battle No. 4 St. John's at 2:30 pm on Sunday, March 8.
3/8: No. 5 Creighton (17-12, 10-8 BIG EAST)
at No. 4 St. John's (20-9, 11-7 BIG EAST) - 2:30 pm
TV: Fox Sports 2
Tiffany Greene (Play-by-Play) & LaChina Robinson (Color Analyst)
http://foxsportsgo.com
Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/tournament.php?tid=206
Postseason Batlle will be Red vs. Blue - Again!
The Creighton and St. John's women's basketball team clash for the third time in the last four seasons in the postseason as the Red Storm and Bluejays battle in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament last season.
The Red Storm have claimed a thrilling double overtime victory over Creighton in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Tournament last season, 68-63.
Two years earlier, prior to Creighton joining the BIG EAST, the Red Storm ended Creighton's NCAA Tournament run in 2011-12 with a 69-67 win over the Bluejays.
Series with St. John's
The Bluejays and Red Storm have met seven times, including three in 2013-14. St. John's holds a 4-3 series edge, but the Bluejays and Red Storm split two games this season. Oddly it was the road team posting the victory in each meeting this season.
Creighton vs. St. John's 2014-15, Needed a Rubber Game
The first two meetings between St. John's and Creighton could not have been more polar opposite games. Both teams could convincingly argue that the loss was its worst performance of the season.
St. John's handled Creighton 61-38 on Jan. 11, then the Bluejays returned the favor with a 75-50 win on Feb. 6.
Based on the scores alone, it would be easy to surmise that the home team won each game. On the contrary, it was the road team that dominated each contest.
Scouting St. John's (20-9, 11-7 BIG EAST)
The loss to Creighton in early Februrary was the low point of the season for the Red Storm. Coming off that game St. John's won five of six games to close out Februrary. The Red Storm, however, closed the regular
season with a perplexing 74-61 loss at Xavier.
The Red Storm are a team built on defense, allowing just 57.9 points per game. The Bluejays first meeting with St. John's this season may have been the Red Storm's best defensive effort, surrendering a season-low 38 points.
Offensively St. John's is a two woman show as Aliyyah Handford (20.2 ppg) and Danaejah Grant (17.1) score better than 59% of the Red Storm's points.
St. John's does not go deep into its bench. During its final two games of the season, the Red Storm bench played a total of 34 minutes or 8.5% of the 400 minutes in the two contests.
Keys to the Game w/St. John's:
- Stop Dribble Penetration: Both Handford and Grant create their offense off thedribble. While easier said than done,making Grant and Handford either pass or become jump shooters is critical.
- Take Care of the Ball: St. John's defense is designed to cause chaos to create easy offense for the Red Storm.
- Expose the small roster: The Red Storm are a physical team, thus can fall into foul trouble. St. John's bench can be exposed if you get to them.
