St. John’s edges Purdue on last-second shot in women’s First Four
ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. John’s guard Jayla Everett (4) reacts after a basket with Mimi Reid (2) against Purdue in the second half.
COLUMBUS, Ohio >> Jayla Everett made a go-ahead shot with 0.3 seconds left and St. John’s edged Purdue 66-64 tonight in a First Four game.
St. John’s (23-8), a No. 11 seed making its 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, advances to play sixth-seeded North Carolina in the first round on Saturday.
Everett curled off a screen and sank a jumper from the free-throw line with 1:30 left for a 64-62 lead. But the Red Storm turned it over on their next possession and Lasha Petree made a shot in the lane to tie it at 64-all with 30.3 left.
After a timeout, Mimi Reid dribbled down the clock before starting the offense with about 10 seconds left. Everett drove the right side of the lane and had the ball knocked loose before corralling it and sinking a shot from a difficult angle.
Petree had 20 points and eight rebounds for Purdue (19-11), which was making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2017. Caitlyn Harper scored 14 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 79, MONMOUTH 69
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Maaliya Owens and Jada Guinn each scored 18 points and Tennessee Tech won its eighth straight game with a victory over Monmouth in the First Four.
Tennessee Tech (23-9), the No. 16 seed, advances to face top-seeded Indiana in the first round on Saturday. The Golden Eagles won their first NCAA Tournament game since 1990.
The Golden Eagles made 10 3-pointers in the first half — after averaging just 6.5 makes this season. Peyton Carter had four 3-pointers, Owens sank all three of her attempts and Jordan Brock also made three. Tennessee Tech finished the game 12 of 26 from distance.
Owens scored seven points in the third quarter and Tennessee Tech closed on an 11-5 run for a 54-44 lead. Monmouth got within six points with 4:31 left in the fourth on a 3-pointer by Ariana Vanderhoop. Reghan Grimes grabbed an offensive rebound at the other end and put it back and Tennessee Tech’s lead didn’t drop below eight points the rest of the way.
Brock finished with 16 points and Carter added 12 points for Tennessee Tech. Owens made four 3-pointers to set the program record for makes in a season. Guinn had six assists.
