November 20, 1998
Villanova, Pa.--- The Villanova University women's basketball team defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore 54-45 on Friday, Nov. 20 in the first round of the PNC Wildcat Classic at the Pavilion at Villanova University. With the victory, the Wildcats improved to 2-0 on the season and advanced to the tournament's championship game to take on Pepperdine on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m.
Villanova jumped out to an early 10-6 nearly seven minutes into the contest, as sophomore center Brandi Barnes scored four quick points. With Villanova owning a slim 13-9 lead at the 10:33 mark of the first half, the Cats went on a 10-4 run in the game's next 7:56 to increase their lead to 23-13. The Hawks rallied to score the last five points of the half to cut the Villanova lead to 23-18 at intermission. Despite shooting only nine-of-37 (24.3%) from the field, the Wildcat defense held Maryland to just eight-of-27 shooting in the contest's first stanza. Barnes led Villanova with seven points and seven rebounds.
The Hawks started the second half with an 8-3 run led by Nicole Council who scored all eight to tie the game at 26-26 at the 15:10 mark. The Wildcats went on a run of their own, however, scoring nine consecutive points in the next 4:29. Barnes keyed the Villanova spurt with seven points.
After Maryland-Eastern Shore (1-2) cut the Wildcat lead to 39-35 with 7:06 remaining, Villanova put the game away scoring eight of the next 10 points to extend its lead to 47-36. The Wildcats converted their free throws down the stretch hitting on six-of-seven in the last two minutes, all by senior guard Shanette Lee, to take a 54-45 victory.
Villanova was led by Barnes who scored a team-high 14 points and added eight rebounds, Seniors Jenn Sliwa and Lee contributed as well, with Sliwa tallying nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists and Lee adding nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. For the Hawks in the loss, Council scored a game-high 20 points, and Nykesha Thompson added 12. Maryland-Eastern Shore will meet James Madison in the tournament's consolation game on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 6:00 p.m.
James Madison lost to Pepperdine in the night's first game 78-60. The Waves of Pepperdine (2-0) held the Dukes to just 20-of-63 shooting (31.7%) and received a game-high 18 points from Rasheeda Clark to spark the victory. Clark led a group of five players who scored in double-figures for the Waves. Nadja Morgan scored 16 behind Clark, while Kate Crane scored 11 and Dee Braxton and Samantha Rigley each scored 10.
In the loss for James Madison (1-1), Becky Wollenberg led the Dukes with 12 points, while Akousa Demann scored 10.
