March 5, 2000

Storrs, Conn.--- In the Big East Tournament quarterfinals on Sunday, March 5, the sixth seeded Villanova University women's basketball team was defeated by the third seed and No. 8 nationally ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 61-32. With the victory, the Scarlet Knights advance to the tournament semifinals to face No. 2 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday. The Wildcats of Villanova fall to 15-14 overall with Sunday's loss.

Rutgers started the game strong, jumping out to a 14-2 lead at the 12:09 mark. Villanova rallied to take an 18-16 lead with 4:28 left in the first half. The Scarlet Knights would battle back, however, to claim a 22-19 advantage at the intermission.

Rutgers began the second half of play on a 15-5 run to gain control with a 39-24 lead at the 13:00 mark. The Knights would cruise from there, outscoring the Wildcats 22-8 the rest of the way en route to the 61-32 victory. When all was said and done, Rutgers outscored Villanova 39-13 in the second half.

Junior center Brandi Barnes scored a team-high 13 points for the Wildcats in the loss. Rounding out the Villanova scoring were Katie Davis with eight points, Trish Juhline with six points and Jenea Skeeters with five points. Freshman Nicole Druckenmiller pulled down a game and career-high 12 rebounds, while Davis posted eight boards. The Wildcats shot 12-for-44 for the game (27%), and two-of-17 from three-point range.

Leading Rutgers was Tammy Sutton-Brown with 12 points, while Shawnett Stewart and Linda Miles each scored 10. The Scarlet Knights shot 51 percent for the game on 28-of-55 from the floor.