DePaul Falls to St. John’s on Saturday in Queens

DePaul Falls to St. John’s on Saturday in Queens | https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3a%2f%2fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2fdepaulbluedemons.com%2fimages%2f2023%2f2%2f11%2fMJG05018.jpg&width=942&type=jpeg

By LGIS

Feb 23, 2023

A cold-shooting outing and an early first-quarter deficit that proved to be too much to overcome snapped DePaul's two-game win streak on Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Demons dropped a 77-61 decision to St. John's after being quieted to just .333 percent shooting from the field and just two from behind the arc on 26 attempts while the Red Storm converted on 49-percent of their own tries.

Aneesah Morrow led the offensive effort for DePaul with 23 points and eight rebounds while senior forward Keke Rimmer recorded the third double-double of her career with 14 points and 11 boards. Morrow's outing marked the 20th 20-point performance of the season for the sophomore.

Darrione Rogers added eight points, four rebounds and four assists while Tara Daye and Anaya Peoples grabbed eight and six rebounds, respectively.

As a team, the Blue Demons outrebounded the Red Storm 42-39 including a 21-9 edge on the offensive glass.

The Red Storm opened a 9-2 lead in the early going of the first period and held a 13-7 advantage at the media timeout as Morrow, Rogers and Holmes each notched a field goal in the first couple possessions. The Blue Demons went scoreless for a four-minute stretch as the Red Storm used a nine-point run to jump in front 20-9 after 10 minutes.

DePaul (13-12, 6-8 BIG EAST) made its first four field goal attempts of the second quarter to trim the deficit to six points, 27-21, on a successful three-point play from Allen. Three-consecutive St. John's three-point field goals stretched their lead to 11. A crafty finish from Morrow through the lane brought the deficit back within single digits before a pair of Red Storm field goals handed the hosts a 39-29 advantage heading into the locker room.

Morrow had a team-high eight points after 20 minutes while Peoples grabbed six first-half rebounds.

The Blue Demons picked up the intensity out of the intermission, with Morrow and Rimmer combining for the first 11 Blue Demons points to trim the Red Storm lead to five, 45-40. St. John's reclaimed a nine-point lead on six-consecutive points from Jayla Everett to head into the fourth in front, 55-46.

St. John's (19-5, 10-5) would balloon their lead to as large as 23 in the final period to close out the victory. Four Johnnies finished in double figures led by 26 from Everett.