St. John’s women’s basketball team lost a close game to DePaul, 72-68, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The Red Storm, now 19-8 overall and 9-7 in BIG EAST play, trailed by 13 points at halftime but managed to tie the game in the final quarter before DePaul secured the win.
Beautiful Waheed led St. John’s with a career-high 20 points, marking her first time scoring 20 or more at the Division I level. She also contributed five rebounds and two blocks. Brooke Moore added 17 points on efficient shooting, making seven of nine shots and hitting both of her three-point attempts. Sa’Mya Wyatt scored 16 points for her third consecutive double-digit performance and collected six rebounds. Together, Waheed, Moore, and Wyatt accounted for most of St. John’s offense with a combined total of 53 points out of the team’s 68.
The Red Storm assisted on 20 of their 27 field goals during the game. Jailah Donald finished with five assists while Daniela Abies led the team with eight rebounds.
DePaul was paced by Kate Novik’s double-double performance—she recorded 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help secure the Blue Demons’ victory.
St. John’s started strong when Waheed hit a three-pointer just over half a minute into the game and briefly led early in the first quarter. However, DePaul responded with a run to take control and ended the opening period ahead by four points.
In the second quarter, both teams traded baskets before DePaul extended its lead late in the half to go up by thirteen at halftime.
After halftime, St. John’s put together a strong comeback with a twelve-point run that cut DePaul’s lead to one point early in the third quarter. Moore gave St. John’s its first lead since early in the game after scoring five quick points following an Ally Timm three-pointer for DePaul. The teams continued trading leads until DePaul built another small advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
In a closely contested final period, St. John’s tied or trimmed DePaul’s lead multiple times but could not complete its comeback as DePaul held on for the win at home.
Next up for St. John’s is an away game against Butler scheduled for February 14 in Indianapolis.
