Feb. 1, 2000

Villanova, Pa.--- On Wednesday, Feb. 1, in Big East Conference action at The Pavilion, the Villanova University women's basketball team defeated Syracuse University, 57-44, for its third consecutive victory and eighth in the last 10 games. With the win, the Wildcats improve to 12-7 overall and 4-3 in the Big East Conference. They also avenge a 66-42 loss to the Orangewomen on Jan. 19, in Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse falls to 8-10 with the loss and 1-6 in the Big East.

Villanova found itself down 7-0 less than two minutes into regulation, but rallied to within 7-6 on a running jumper by freshman guard Trish Juhline. Trailing 17-16 at the 7:19 mark, senior guard Mary Beth Snell hit sophomore forward Stephanie Baker underneath the basket for an easy lay up to give the `Cats an 18-17 advantage. They would never again trail, and took a 23-21 lead into the half behind 45.8 percent shooting and 11 points from Juhline. The Orangewomen shot just eight-of-24 from the field in the first stanza for 33.3 percent. Forward Beth Record and guard Jaime James led Syracuse with five points apiece at intermission.

The Wildcats held a slim 25-24 advantage at the 19:13 mark, but that was as close as the Orangewomen would come. Villanova went on a 12-0 run over the next 6:42 to take its biggest lead of the contest at 37-24. Senior guard Jenea Skeeters sparked the Wildcat surge with seven points. From there, Villanova increased its lead to as much as 18 points, at 51-33 with 5:25 remaining. The Wildcats cruised on to a 57-44 victory.

Leading the Villanova offensive attack was Juhline, who scored 20 points on seven-of-nine shooting and three-of-four from the three-point stripe. Skeeters scored in double figures as well, with 14 points on four-of-nine shooting. Rounding out the Wildcat scoring was center Brandi Barnes and Snell with six apiece, Katie Davis and Baker (team-high eight rebounds) had four points each, and freshman forward Nicole Druckenmiller had three.

For Syracuse in the loss, Record scored a team-high 11 points on four-of-23 shooting and added eight rebounds. Shannon Perry scored 10 points and pulled down seven boards, while guards Jakia Ervin and James scored nine and eight points respectively. The Orangewomen struggled from the field, however, shooting just 27.5 percent on 14-for-51 from the field.

Villanova will resume play on Saturday, Feb. 5, traveling to Georgetown to take on the Hoyas at 3:00 p.m.