Blacksburg, Va.  The St. Johns womens basketball team dropped a 50-69 decision to No. 20 Virginia Tech, this afternoon at Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies improve to 15-2 and 6-0 in the BIG EAST, while the Red Storm fall to 3-14 overall and 0-6 in the conference.

The Red Storm got off to a slow start, allowing Virginia Tech to go on a 15-2 run in the first seven minutes of play. The Hokies would go up as much as 22, as they shot 64.0 percent from the field, in the first half. St. Johns would cut the lead to 15 on a steal by senior Kenyawna Hudgens (Washington, D.C.), followed by a Creasie Fowler (Milwaukee, Wis.) jumper. Virginia Tech had a 39-20 advantage at the break.

The story of the game would come in the second half. The Red Storm would give the Hokies a little scare, pulling to within 12 at the 5:49 mark. St. Johns posted an 11-2 run, led by sophomore Shemika Stevens (New York, N.Y.), who had a three-pointer and two free throws. Both teams would post 30 points in the second half, but Virginia Tech would go on to take the game, 69-50.

The Red Storm effort was led by freshman Patrycja Gulak (Olsztyn, Poland), who had a team-high 13 points and six rebounds. Gulak went 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Stevens had 11 on the day, having gone 6-6 from the charity stripe. Rasheedah Brown (Newark, N.J.) and Fowler each posted eight for the Red Storm.

St. Johns battled foul trouble, and sent the Hokies to the line 36 times. Virginia Tech connected on only 63.9 percent from the line, while the Red Storm hit 16 of 18 for 88.9 percent. Virginia Tech won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Red Storm 39 to 27.

Todays game marked the first for the Red Storm under the direction of interim head coach Pechone Stepps, in his second year as an assistant with the program.

I am proud of the way the team played today. We played tough against the No. 20 team in the country. We will now look forward to our next game and try to put two good halves together, Stepps said.

The Red Storm return to action on Wednesday, February 23 at 7:30pm, when they host the Miami Hurricanes.