Jayla Everett made a layup from the right baseline with 0.3 seconds left St. John’s trailed Purdue 66-64 in a First Four game of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.
Everett, who had a team-high 20 points, scored the Red Storm’s final two baskets after the Boilermakers rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to tie twice in the final 3:10 seconds.
St. John’s (22-8), a No. 11 seed, advances to play No. 6 seed North Carolina on Saturday at 4 pm in a first-round matchup.
Unique Drake added 16 points for the Red Storm, who won their first NCAA tournament game since 2014, a 71-68 victory over USC.
St. John’s took a 60-45 lead on Drake’s 3-pointer with 1:06 left in the third quarter and then went wide, managing only a Rayven Peeples jumper during Purdue’s 17-2 run, which ended with a layup by Lasha Petree to tie the game at 62-62.
That’s when Everett stepped up with a jumper with 1:27 left. Petree responded with a layup with 31 seconds remaining before Everett came down the lane as the clock was running down and finished the game-winner.
