Jan. 13, 2000

Villanova, Pa.--- On Thursday, January 13, the Villanova Wildcats hosted the University of Pennsylvania in their final Philadelphia Big Five match-up of the 1999-2000 season. In what was a hard fought contest until the final buzzer, the home ?Cats defeated the visiting Quakers, 85-76. The win ups Villanova?s record to 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big Five, while Penn dropped to 8-5 and 1-3, respectively.

Penn got on the scoreboard first, taking a 4-0 lead on two short jumpers, but the Wildcats came right back as they grabbed the lead with a Brandi Barnes jump shot and a Katie Davis three-pointer. Davis? three-ball would be a recurring theme as the freshman nailed 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in the game to finish with a career-high-tying 18 points.

After Penn senior Mandy West hit a running jumper with 10:35 remaining in the first half to put the visitors ahead 17-16, the visitors would lead until the 2:05 mark of the first when junior guard Lauren Pellicane stroked a three-pointer that put the ?Cats in front 36-34. The Quakers? own hot shooting, however, tied the game on their next possession as West made another basket. Another tie and three lead changes later, Villanova escaped the first half with a narrow 41-39 advantage. The first stanza saw four players make it into double figures in the scorebook. Penn was led by West?s 14 points, while the Wildcats were paced by 14 first-half points from Davis.

In the second half, Villanova picked up its defensive intensity, limiting the Quakers to 41% shooting, versus the torrid 65% that the visitors shot in the first half. The Wildcats forced the Quakers into seven second-half turnovers, while they shot a blistering 55.6% from the floor. Senior leading scorer Jenea Skeeters came alive in the second half, as well, as she torched Penn for 13 points after intermission. Pellicane also came up big for Villanova as she poured in nine second half points of her own.

Villanova began the second half with a Barnes layup that increased the lead to 43-39. The Wildcats would not relinquish the lead for the entire second half, twice increasing the margin to 10 points. Diana Carmanico?s 16 second half points and the team?s twenty-four second half foul shot attempts helped keep Penn in the game, but Villanova was too strong on this night. Carmanico led all scorers with 27 points, while Davis paced the Wildcats with her 18.

Villanova will get back into action on Saturday, Jan. 15, when they travel to Rutgers to take on the nationally-ranked Scarlet Knights in Big East action at 7:30pm.