Nov. 29, 2002
Final Stats
BOULDER, COLORADO - In the first round of the Coors Classic on Friday, Nov. 29, at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colorado, the Villanova women's basketball team pulled away down the stretch behind the shooting of senior guard Trish Juhline to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes, 58-51. With the win, the Wildcats improve to 3-0 overall on the season and advance to the championship game of the Coors Classic to meet the winner of Colorado/Hartford on Saturday, Nov. 30, at 8:00 p.m. MST.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 10-3 lead just under six minutes into the game, but Villanova went on a 12-2 run in the next 5:09 to take a 15-12 advantage. Junior guard Courtney Mix had four point for the `Cats during the run.
Down 21-19 with two minutes remaining before intermission, Villanova scored the final five points to go into the half with a 24-21 lead. Mix had all five of the Wildcats' points down the stretch.
Villanova shot only 34.5 percent (10-of-29) in the first half, but held the Buckeyes to just 38.5 shooting (10-of-26). The Wildcats turned the ball over only two in the first half against an Ohio State defense that had forced 26 turnovers per game in their first two games of the year.
Villanova maintained its lead early in the second half, but saw its advantage disappear as DiDi Reynolds hit a three-pointer at the 6:39 mark to give the Buckeyes their first lead of the second half at 38-37.
Sophomore center Jana Rediger gave the Wildcats the lead back, at 39-38, with a runner at the right of the basket. On Villanova's next possession, Juhline hit a three-ball from the top right of the arc to extend the `Cat lead to 42-38.
With the Wildcats leading 42-40 at the 4:48 mark, senior Nicole Druckenmiller hit a three-pointer from the right baseline to give Villanova some breathing room at 45-40.
The `Cats led 48-42 with 3:07 to go in regulation when Juhline hit a off-balance runner as the shot clock sounded to increase the Villanova lead to 50-42.
Juhline would go on to score nine-straight points for the Wildcats down the stretch as Villanova went on for the 58-51 victory. The `Cats outscored Ohio State 21-13 in the final 5:31 of the second half to seal the win.
The Wildcats held a Buckeye offense that had averaged 95 points per game over their first two games to 51 points.
On offense for Villanova, Juhline scored a game-high 20 points on six-of-13 shooting from the field, three-of-six from three-point range and five-for six from the foul line. Courtney Mix scored a season-best 15 points for the `Cats to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Senior forward Katie Davis also scored in double figured with 10 points. Winding down the scoring for Villanova were Rediger with six points, Druckenmiller with four points and Kelly Nash with three points.
In the loss for the Buckeyes, Courtney Coleman scored 17 points and pulled down seven boards, while LaToya Turner had 10 points.
