December 5, 1998

Villanova, Pa.--- The Villanova women's basketball team won its second Big Five contest in four days, defeating the Temple Owls 92-62 on Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Pavilion on the campus of Villanova University. Getting career highs in points from sophomore center Brandi Barnes (24 points), and redshirt sophomore guard Lauren Pellicane (20 points), the Wildcats went over the .500 mark for the season at 4-3.

The Villanova offense jumped out to a red hot start, outscoring Temple (3-3) 19-6 in the first seven minutes of the game led by 10 points from Barnes. With the score standing at 21-10 at the 11:47 mark, Pellicane began to fire away from the three-point stripe hitting three triples to send the Wildcats into the half with a 47-29 lead.

In the second half, Villanova put the game away early. Barnes led the way with 14 points and six rebounds in 10 second half minutes and despite going without a field goal for 4:50, the Wildcats cruised on to a 92-62 victory.

After shooting over 63 percent from the field in the first half, the Villanova offense was able to retain its offensive consistency in the second stanza shooting 51.7 percent after intermission. Pellicane finished the game shooting six-for-nine from three-point range and seven-of-10 overall, for 20 points to go along with eight assists. Barnes ended the day 10-for-15 from the field for 24 points, also adding eight rebounds. Scoring double figures for the Wildcats as well, was senior forward Jenn Sliwa who scored 10 points.

Leading the Owls in the loss was guard Nicole Chaszar who scored 18 points and added eight rebounds. Dawn Ingram was also solid in defeat, scoring 14 points on six-of-10 shooting.

With the victory, the Wildcats improved their record in the Big Five to 3-0, while Temple fell to 1-2. Villanova will play for the Big Five title on Wednesday, Dec. 9, traveling to St. Joseph's to face the Hawks at 7:30 p.m.