Penn State vs St. John's | NCAA Women's Basketball | 12.2.24

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania – December 2nd, 2024

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Recap below...

Behind a career-best scoring performance from Lashae Dwyer, The St. John's women's basketball team picked up a marquee road win on Monday night at Penn State, 72-67.

The Red Storm snapped the previously unbeaten Lady Lions' program record 17-game non-conference home winning streak, dating back to Dec. 21, 2022. Monday night's win at the Bryce Jordan Center marked the program's first road win over a Big Ten opponent since Nov. 19, 2015, when it defeated Rutgers.

The Johnnies recorded 16 steals as a team, matching the program's most since it tallied the same number against Fairfield on Dec. 20, 2019.

Dwyer strung together an incredible performance in Happy Valley, going off for a career-high 25 points and a season-high seven steals. Dwyer surpassed her previous career-high of 23 points, she set nearly two years ago at Florida State on Dec. 21, 2022. The senior shot 10-of-15 from the field and added six rebounds and five assists. The Toronto native's seven swipes was the most by a Red Storm player since Kadaja Bailey on March 5, 2021. She recorded steals in the final 30 seconds in each of the last three quarters.

In her homecoming, the Moosic, Pa., native Kylie Lavelle made her first start of the season and added 10 points a personal best five assists and additionally tied career-high's with four steals and three blocks.

For the third-straight game. Ber'Nyah Mayo scored in double-figures tallying 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Jailah Donald was the fourth Johnnie to reach double-digits adding 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Penn State's Jayla Oden lead the Lady Lions with 24 points and shot 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

In the first half, the two sides battled as the game stayed within a four-point margin for the opening 20 minutes. In the first frame, Lavelle forced a turnover that lead to a fastbreak finish for Dwyer. On the following possession, Dwyer pick-pocketed the Penn State ball handler and took it once again to the other end for another breakaway finish just 0:26 apart to build an early 6-2 edge. After the Lady Lions strung together a 10-4 run to take control, before Donald rattled home a triple to regain the advantage, 13-12. Penn State's Gracie Merkle recorded a bucket as time expired as the Lady Lions' held a 19-15, after the first.

Ariana Vanderhoop drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute of the second stanza to dissepate the home sides advantage. A pair of fastbreak lay-ins and a wide-open Lavelle triple from the top of the key gave the Johnnies' a 37-33 cushion. On the final play of the half, Dwyer swiped the ball once again and went streaking to the basket to beat the horn. The Red Storm ended the half on a 11-4 run to take a 39-35 lead into the locker room.

In the third stanza, the Red Storm came out firing as a 9-0 run in the middle of the quarter capped off by a Mayo triple gave St. John's its largest lead of the night, 52-41, forcing a Penn State timeout. The Lady Lions charged back instantly after the timeout with an 11-2 stretch of their own to trim the deficit to a pair, 54-52. Lavelle shifted the momentum back with an inside finish before Dwyer once again ended a quarter with a scoop and score to take a six-point lead into the fourth, 58-52.

In the final frame, the game remained tight the Lady Lions went on a 6-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to as few as three, 68-65. With 2:17 to go. As she had all night long, Dwyer responded in a big way, nailing a mid-range jumper, 70-65, with 1:49 to play. The Red Storm continued to hold Penn State on lockdown forcing crucial turnovers down the stretch, none bigger than Dwyer sealing the deal with her seventh steal with seven seconds remaining as the Red Storm dribbled out the clock to move to 7-1 on the year.

The Red Storm will return to Queens to take on another power conference opponent in Wake Forest on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Written by RedStormSports.com

https://redstormsports.com/news/2024/...