January 23, 1999
The Villanova women's basketball team held off Miami in the closing seconds of a Big East showdown at the Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 23, to secure a 56-54 victory. With the win, the Wildcats improved to 8-9 overall and 4-5 in Big East Conference play.
Villanova jumped out to an 11-6 lead five and a half minutes into the game, before Miami (10-8, 5-5) rallied to take its first lead of the game, 20-18, with 5:10 remaining before intermission. After falling down by five, the Wildcats made a run of their own, closing out the last 4:10 of the half on a 9-3 run to take a 27-26 lead at the half-way point.
Villanova took a one-point lead into intermission, despite allowing 60 percent shooting by the Hurricanes in the first half. The Wildcats shot just under 43 percent in the first half on 12-of-28 shooting, and were led by sophomore center Brandi Barnes' eight points and five rebounds.
The second half went back and forth, before Villanova put together a 8-0 run in a span of 59 seconds to break a 40-40 deadlock and take a commanding 48-40 lead. The run was sparked by six points from junior forward Jenea Skeeters.
With the Wildcats holding a 50-44 lead at the 4:56 mark, the Hurricanes scored three consecutive buckets, all by forward Kym Hope, to tie the score at 50-50 with 2:48 left in regulation. After a Skeeters free throw and a basket by sophomore Mimi Riley made the game 53-50 in favor of Villanova, a Hope layup for Miami cut the lead to one.
Senior guard Shanette Lee hit a five-foot jumper to increase the Wildcat lead to 55-52 with 1:18 left, but picked up her second foul on the next series to send Hope to the line for Miami where she buried both to make it a 55-54 game.
With the Hurricanes regaining possession after a missed free throw on the front end of a one-and-one by Wildcat forward Jen Sliwa, Miami guard Gina Graziani passed the ball to Hope in the paint who attempted to drive the lane. Lee stole the ball in mid-air for Villanova and passed it to Sliwa who was fouled immediately. After a time out by the Wildcats, Sliwa was sent to the free throw line once again, where she hit the second of two to give Villanova a 56-54 lead. A desperation three at the buzzer was no good for Miami, as the Cats escaped with a two-point victory.
The Wildcats were led by Skeeters who posted a team-high 15 points. Sliwa and Lee also scored in double figures for Villanova with 13 and 10 points respectively. For Miami in the loss, Hope recorded a game-high 16 points, while guard Gina Graziani added 13.
The Wildcats will resume play on Wednesday, Jan. 27, traveling to Pittsburgh, Pa., to play the Panthers at 7:00 p.m.
