KNOXVILLE, TN —The St. Andrews Knights women’s basketball team dropped a 71-61 road contest at the hands of the Johnson University Royals on Saturday afternoon. St. Andrews falls to 9-12 (5-9 against AAC teams) on the season with the loss while the Royals improve to 16-4 (12-3 in conference games) with their fifth consecutive victory.
The Knights started the game out on the right foot, leading 15-7 after 7:06 of game time but quickly saw that lead turn into a 19-15 deficit after 10 minutes. Johnson outscored St. Andrews in every quarter of the game (22-20 in the second quarter, 10-7 in the third and 20-19 in the fourth) and never trailed again after that point while leading by as many as 14 during the contest.
Londaisha Smith paced the Knights in scoring with 19 points on a 6-12 shooting effort from the floor while also adding four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. Jada Richardson and Katie Moore grabbed five rebounds apiece to lead St. Andrews in that area while Jamicia Davis dished out a team high six assists and also had 13 points, four rebounds and three steals.
Despite the double-digit loss, St. Andrews had a statistical advantage in a few areas. Those include field goal percentage (35.1%-34.8%), three-point percentage (47.6%-32%), turnovers committed (13-15) and points off turnovers (14-13).
The Knights will return home on Wednesday night for a conference matchup against the Columbia International University Rams, a team they defeated by 29 points (83-54) nearly three weeks ago (Jan. 7). Tipoff from Harris Court is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Men’s basketball loses to Johnson
The Knights fell on the road to the Royals in a 96-77 final on Saturday afternoon. St. Andrews falls to 3-13 (2-11 against AAC teams) on the season with the loss while Johnson improves to 12-7 (9-4 against conference opponents) with their fourth consecutive victory.
St. Andrews kept the game competitive in the first half and led by as many as four (21-17) with 10:57 left in the first half. However, the Royals outscored the Knights 42-39 over the first 20 minutes and pulled away with a 54-38 advantage held in the second half.
Mateu Escamilla led St. Andrews in scoring with 20 points on a 8-16 shooting effort from the floor while also adding two rebounds, two assists and a steal. Ma’Nas Drummond led the Knights in both rebounds and assists with six each while also adding 11 points and three steals.
St. Andrews held a statistical advantage in a handful of categories. Those include turnovers committed (14-21), points off turnovers (30-18) and bench points (31-21).
The Knights will return home on Wednesday night for a conference matchup against the Columbia International University Rams, a team they lost to by a score of 95-72 nearly three weeks ago (Jan. 7). Tipoff from Harris Court is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Women’s wrestling finishes in 37th at Warrior Women’s Open
The Knights scored 5.5 team points over the two-day event to finish in 37th place out of 45 competing teams. Unattached was the winner of the competition with 345 points scored, 98 points ahead of second placed Life.
St. Andrews won a single match. That victory came from Minnie Locklear (117), who took down Aubrey Filsinger of Mount Union via fall in 1:32.
The Knights will be back in action next Tuesday, Feb. 4 with a matchup at Greensboro College.