Week in review: St. John's women's basketball led by Big East POW Aliyyah Handford

After suffering their first loss of the season two weekends ago, the women's only game this week came at Providence on Tuesday, where they were able to secure a 68-52 win for their second Big East victory of the season so far.

The Red Storm trailed by 11 with just under 14 minutes remaining in the game, but from there they would power back, and eventually pull away from the Friars with a dominant 21-4 run down the stretch. Over the final 13 minutes of play, the Red Storm outscored Providence by a whopping 37-10 to close out the game.

If you haven't guessed it by now, St. John's was led by the terrific duo of Aliyyah Handford and Danaejah Grant, who scored 21 and 24 points, respectively, for 45 of the team's 68 points in the game. Grant also added a team-high 11 rebounds and three assists during a night where she played the full 40 minutes, while Handford grabbed six rebounds and a team-high two steals in 32 minutes.

Sophomore forward Jade Walker also scored 14 and grabbed nine rebounds for the Red Storm, while Amber Thompson had another double-digit rebound game with 10 boards on the night.

The Week Ahead

This next week sees a pair of exceptionally tough games for St. John's, as they'll first face 23rd-ranked Seton Hall on Friday night at home (televised on the CBS Sports Network) before they take on the always-dominant Connecticut Huskies on Sunday at Madison Square Garden as part of the Maggie Dixon Classic.

Handford named Big East Player of the Week

Aliyyah Handford received Player of the Week honors on Monday after dropping 22 points and 27 points, respectively, in the Chartwells Holiday Classic against Auburn and Indiana State. The Indiana State game was the Red Storm's first loss, but Handford tried to carry the women's team to a win in the double overtime affair.

Handford also made the Chartwell's all-tournament team.