Recapping the news in St. John’s athletics over the last week, including volleyball’s deep run in the NIVC and women’s basketball’s dominant win over Hofstra
Volleyball falls to Bowling Green in NIVC Fab Four
The St. John’s volleyball team’s 2024 season came to an end in the NIVC Fab Four on Saturday night, as Bowling Green came back to win in five sets after the Red Storm won the first two. The Falcons advanced to play Arizona in the NIVC championship on Tuesday, December 17.
St. John’s knocked off North Carolina A&T, Virginia, and Big East rival UConn before making this year’s NIVC Fab Four, the furthest they have ever advanced in any national postseason tournament.
Led by head coach Joanne Persico and unanimous All-Big East selection Erin Jones, the Red Storm finished the 2024 season with a 24-13 record, marking their third straight season with 20 or more wins and their fifth in seven years. St. John’s finished 74th in Division I RPI after the last update on November 30.
Next season, the Red Storm will be looking to make their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2019, which was also the last year they won the Big East tournament championship.
Women’s basketball routs Hofstra, 62-38 to improve to 9-1
St. John’s women’s hoops continues their impressive non-conference run, defeating Hofstra by a score of 62-38 on Wednesday night off another shutdown defensive performance.
Lashae Dwyer once again led the Red Storm in scoring with 18 points (6-of-11 FG, 2-of-7 from three), and Dwyer also posted four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Kylie Lavelle nearly had a double-double with 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Pride were held to 32.6% shooting from the field and 33.3% from three, and gave up more turnovers (19) than they had makes (14).
With a record of 9-1, the Red Storm have already built a solid non-conference résumé with a 72-67 road win over Penn State (NET #63) and a 63-45 home win over Wake Forest (NET #87). Their only defeat came against Harvard, who are ranked 34th in NET rankings and beat the Red Storm with a game-ending buzzer-beater on Thanksgiving Day.
St. John’s has one more non-conference game remaining and it is a golden opportunity to build up their résumé when they face Fairfield (NET #45) on Sunday afternoon (2:00 p.m., FloSports), who have beaten Arkansas, Wake Forest, and Villanova this year.
Zuby Ejiofor, Lashae Dwyer named to Big East Weekly Honor Roll
Two St. John’s basketball players made the Big East Weekly Honor Roll last week: Zuby Ejiofor for the men’s team and the aforementioned Lashae Dwyer for the women’s team.
Zuby Ejiofor was named to the men’s basketball Weekly Honor Roll for the second time in three weeks after he put on a career-best 28-point, 13-rebound performance in the Red Storm’s emotional 88-71 win over Kansas State on December 7, one week after the death of Lou Carnesecca. Ejiofor is averaging 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds through ten games this season.
Lashae Dwyer earned a spot on the women’s basketball Weekly Honor Roll for the third time this season after averaging 19.5 points, 5.5 steals, and 4.5 rebounds across two wins versus Penn State and Wake Forest.
Dwyer scored a career-high 25-points (10-of-15 FG) and tallied seven steals, becoming one of just four players in NCAA Division I to record 25 or more points and seven or more steals in a game this season. In a 63-48 win over Wake Forest, Dwyer scored 14 points and went a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
The Miami transfer is leading the team in scoring with 15.8 points, and is also leading the Big East in steals with 3.0 takeaways per game. Dwyer is also ranked 15th in the nation with 30 total steals this season.