St. John’s outlasted by Creighton, who picks up 11th straight win

Head coach Joe Tartamella dons a pink quarter-zip in honor of legendary coach Kay Yow. (Photo by Sara Kiernan/The Torch)

By Kyler Fox (@kylerrfox)

NEW YORK — For head coach Joe Tartamella and his St. John’s women’s basketball program, it’s been an up-and-down season. 

“I can tell you that I can feel confident for five minutes, I can feel scared for about 15 and I could feel confident again for 20,” Tartamella claimed. 

Friday’s 71-51 loss to No. 20 Creighton displayed exactly what Tartamella meant. 

For the first five minutes, the hosts were confident. After turning the Bluejays over on their first possession, Unique Drake stepped behind the arc and buried a long three, setting an early tone for the Red Storm.

Unfortunately for Drake and company, Creighton hardly missed. The Bluejays boasted a 19-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, 10 points courtesy of Emma Ronsiek, en route to a 67 percent shooting display. 

As the second quarter crawled on, Lauren Jensen and Morgan Maly got in on the fun. Time and again down the court, one member of the trio seemingly scored with ease. Whether it came by way of a Ronsiek hook shot, a drive by Jensen or a deep Maly three from the top of the key, Creighton had its way with the undersized Red Storm. 

An 8-2 run late in the second quarter swung all momentum in Creighton’s favor. St. John’s found itself down 13 at halftime, and given the torrid shooting from the visitors, was fortunate that the margin was not significantly greater. 

The Red Storm entered the second half showing signs of life, led by Ber’Nyah Mayo. The senior guard stepped up in place of the often-dominant Drake, tallying 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Unfortunately, Mayo’s effort didn’t have much impact on the game, as Creighton’s trio continued its first-half performance out of the intermission. 

Jensen, Ronsiek and Maly ultimately outscored St. John’s by themselves, combining for 54 points in the lopsided victory. The Red Storm simply could not match up with the hot-handed big three, a sentiment Tartamella echoed after the final buzzer. 

“The matchup is difficult in many ways with them,” he said. “That’s how they kind of spread people out. They haven’t had games with a large margin (of victory) in a bit, which we allowed today. We didn’t do enough to adjust or try to change. They were just able to exploit (us) way better than we exploited them.”

Now having faced the top two teams in the conference, as St. John’s has also seen UConn twice already this season, Tartamella is taking a one-at-a-time approach in preparation for next month’s Big East tournament. 

“I worry about the next game, to be honest with you,” he said. “Do I think we can compete with everybody? Certainly, I think we can. But, we’ve got to worry about what lies up here next.”

For St. John’s, a matchup in the nation’s capital lies ahead next. The Red Storm travels to Georgetown to take on the Hoyas on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Creighton brings its 11-game winning streak into Connecticut for a noon showdown with UConn on Monday. The Bluejays previously fell to the Huskies, 94-50, on January 3, posing an uphill battle for redemption.