NEW YORK (AP) — Jayla Everett scored 20 points and St. John’s remained unbeaten by handing No. 13 Creighton its first loss, 66-62 on Sunday.
The Red Storm had a 47-32 lead in the middle of the third quarter before the Bluejays got it down to a one-possession deficit in the final 90 seconds.
After Emma Ronsiek’s basket pulled Creighton within 61-59 with 1:27 to play the Bluejays had a possession to tie or take the lead but couldn’t score. In the last 10 seconds Everett made two free throws and Kadaja Bailey had a steal and made 3 of 4 from the line.
Bailey and Unique Drake had 13 points apiece for St. John’s (8-0, 2-0 Big East Conference) and Rayven Peeples had 11 rebounds and four blocks to go with her nine points.
Lauren Jensen scored 21 points for the Bluejays (7-1, 2-1) but couldn’t get the tying jumper to fall with 13 seconds to go. Her 3-pointer made it 64-62 with two seconds left. Morgan Maly added 15 points.
Everett had 10 points in the first quarter when the Red Storm went 4 of 5 from distance and 9 of 14 overall to take a 23-14 lead. Down 8-2, Everett and Bailey had 3s and Peeples a three-point play in an 11-0 run and St. John’s led the rest of the way.
Bailey’s layup with 4:39 to play had the Red Storm up 61-52, but a 7-0 run gave Creighton a chance. Although St. John’s didn’t make a field goal after that, following Ronsiek’s layup that made it 61-59, Peeples had an offensive rebound that allowed the Red Storm to take 53 seconds off the clock.
Creighton, which reached its highest ranking ever despite play seven of eight on the road, has home games on the next two Saturdays against Drake and Arkansas, before going to Stanford Dec. 20. Iona visits St. John’s on Thursday.
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