St. John’s University women’s basketball team will host the top-ranked University of Connecticut (UConn) at Madison Square Garden on Sunday in its regular season finale. This game marks the program’s first standalone women’s college basketball event at the arena.
Tickets remain available for the matchup, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on TNT and also broadcast on truTV. JB Long and Aja Ellison will provide commentary from Madison Square Garden, with Autum Johnson serving as sideline reporter in Hartford.
The contest will also be accessible via terrestrial radio for the first time in program history, airing on ESPN New York 880 AM, the ESPN New York app, and the Varsity Network. Pat O’Keefe and Maria Marino are set to handle radio coverage from Madison Square Garden.
St. John’s women’s basketball team has played 18 previous games at Madison Square Garden but never as a standalone event until now. The team holds an 11-7 record at this venue since their first appearance in 2004. Head Coach Joe Tartamella has participated in every one of these games, initially as a graduate assistant and assistant coach before taking over as head coach. In his current role, he has led St. John’s to a 5-2 record at Madison Square Garden.
Recent conference wins for St. John’s at this venue include victories against Villanova and Butler during BIG EAST play.
This meeting with UConn is their fourth encounter at Madison Square Garden; UConn won all three prior matchups, most recently in January 2015 during the Maggie Dixon Classic.
In their last game, St. John’s secured a season sweep of Seton Hall for the first time since 2019-20 after overcoming multiple lead changes late in the contest. Daniela Abies recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high 19 rebounds—the highest single-game rebounding total by a Red Storm player since December 2018.
Shaulana Wagner contributed with both scoring and playmaking, while Janeya Grant was perfect from both field goal range and beyond the arc during that victory over Seton Hall.
Wagner’s recent performances have placed her among conference leaders in assists per game this season.
Abies received her second BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll recognition this year following strong performances against Georgetown and Seton Hall; she leads St. John’s in rebounding and ranks sixth within the conference overall.
Sunday’s matchup represents the second meeting between St. John’s (21-9 overall; 11-8 BIG EAST) and undefeated UConn (30-0 overall; 19-0 BIG EAST) this season—and their seventy-second meeting all-time—with UConn holding a substantial advantage historically. The last win by St. John’s over UConn occurred on February 21, 2023.
UConn enters Sunday’s contest having extended its winning streak to forty-six games after defeating Georgetown earlier this week by thirty-two points.
Azzi Fudd led UConn against Georgetown with twenty-four points alongside contributions across rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks; she currently leads the BIG EAST in three-point shooting percentage and is among national leaders for made threes per game.
Sarah Strong is another key contributor for UConn—leading not only her team but also ranking highly within NCAA Division I women’s basketball statistics across several categories including field-goal percentage, steals per game, scoring average, and blocked shots per contest.
Following Sunday’s regular-season finale against UConn at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s will participate in next week’s BIG EAST Tournament scheduled to take place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.
