TAMPA – The shorthanded Bulls failed to keep up with the Red Storm early Wednesday afternoon.

Sasha Bernard posted a career-high 14 points, but St. John's pulled away in the second half to hand the Bulls their fourth straight Big East loss, 67-57, before a record crowd of 5,018 at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y.

USF (12-13, 4-7) was without leading scorer Jasmine Wynne, who suffered a concussion late in a loss at Syracuse last Saturday. The Bulls also missed starting point guard Shalethia Stringfield, who missed the game for personal reasons.

“I was proud of our effort,” head coach Jose Fernandez said. “We just did not have enough.”

Andrell Smith was in double figures for the second consecutive game with 12 points, but USF's offense failed to get going in the second half after heading into the break tied at 29.

“I thought St. John's just wore us down with our low numbers, but I was proud of our guys,” Fernandez said. “Once they started to pound it inside we got in foul trouble and they converted.”

St. John's (16-8, 8-4) outscored USF, 32-20, in the paint and was powered by a team-high 17 points by Da'Shena Stevens. Shenneika Smith had 16 points and Nadirah McKenith had 13 in the Red Storm's eighth win in their past 10 games.

The Bulls shook off a slow start to pull even with St. John's at the break. USF had seven points at the midway point of the first half with 11 turnovers. The Bulls were able to stay close with the Red Storm because of their ability to get to the free throw line (13-for-18).

Inga Orekhova went 4-for-5 from the free throw line and led the Bulls with nine points in the half while Tiffany Conner had six with two 3-pointers. Orekhova and Conner both finished with nine points apiece.

Any momentum gained was taken away quickly by the Red Storm in the second half.

St. John's opened period on an 11-4 run with all of USF's points coming from Bernard.  The Red Storm's lead grew to 15 with less than 9 minutes remaining while holding a 30-14 edge in points in the paint.

USF, normally efficient with the ball, turned it over 20 times and failed to keep up its trend of toughness on defense. The Bulls forced only 12 turnovers after coming in with an average of 21.9 per contest.

The Bulls are finished with their two-game road trip and will head home to host Villanova 7 p.m. Saturday at the USF Recreation Center. Admission is free for fans.