Dec. 30, 2001

Box Score

VILLANOVA, PA. - In the championship game of the 2001 PNC Wildcat Christmas Classic on Sunday, Dec. 30, at The Pavilion, the Villanova women's basketball team was defeated by the University of Alabama by the score of 70-61. The Wildcats fell to 6-4 overall on the season with the loss, while the Crimson Tide improved to 10-3 on the year.

Villanova went the first 9:23 of the first half without a field goal and found itself down by the score of 15-4. The Wildcat did not score their first basket until a Katie Davis' layup cut the Alabama advantage to 15-6 with 10:37 left before intermission.

Down by 12 points, 26-14, with 8:02 to go before the half, Villanova staged a minor rally. The Wildcats outscored the Tide 16-9 throughout the remainder of the half to cut the Alabama lead to 37-30 at intermission. LsNisha Cartwell led the Tide in scoring in the first half with eight points, while guard Beth Vice had seven and forward Sparkle Smith posted six. For the `Cats, forward Kelly Nash scored nine points on three-of-four shooting from the three-point stripe, while Katie Davis shot one-of-three from the field and six-of-six from the free throw line for eight points.

With Alabama leading by six points at 49-43 with 12:43 remaining in the game, the Tide went on a 10-0 run to take a 59-43 advantage. Jamila Johns scored four points for the Alabama during the run.

Behind the three-point shooting of Nash and the offensive production of point guard Mimi Riley, the Wildcats had one more run left in them. Trailing 65-54 with 2:41 left in the contest, Villanova got a free throw by forward Courtney Mix and two three-pointers by Nash to pull to within 67-61 with 56 seconds remaining. Alabama staged off any further rally, as the Tide hit three-of-four from the line down the stretch to claim a 70-61 victory.

For the Wildcats in the loss, Nash scored a career-high 20 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the field and six-of-nine shooting from three-point range. The six three-pointers was also a career-high for Nash. Also scoring in double figures for Villanova was Mix with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Riley who recorded 10 points. Nash and Mix both received All-Tournament honors for the Wildcats. It was the second time of Mix's career that she received all-tourney honors as she also took home the accolades at last season's PNC Wildcat Classic.

Alabama's LaNisha Cartwell led the Tide charge with 14 points and eight rebounds. She was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Vice also played well in the win scoring 14 points on five-of-seven shooting and tallying All-Tournament status.

In the afternoon's Consolation Game, Massachusetts defeated Rider by the score of 65-54. Center Jennifer Butler led the way for the Minutewomen with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Tanya Cross scored 10 points and added three rebounds and two assists in the loss for the Broncs. Each were named to the All-Tournament Team for their play.

Villanova will get back into action on Thursday, Jan. 3, hosting West Virginia in the Big East opener at 7:30 p.m.

2001 PNC Wildcat Christmas Classic All-Tournament Team
MVP - LaNisha Cartwell, AlabamaBeth Vice, AlabamaCourtney Mix, VillanovaKelly Nash, VillanovaJennifer Butler, MassachusettsTanya Cross, Rider