Final Stats

Estero, Fla. - In the second round of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Saturday, Nov. 29, the Villanova Wildcats fell to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by a score of 71-63. With the loss, Villanova drops to 1-4 overall, while Georgia Tech improves to 5-2.

The Yellow Jackets led 10-6 when Georgia Tech scored seven straight points to take a 17-6 lead with 12:00 left in the first half. Kaela Davis led the Yellow Jacket charge with five of the seven points.

After a Jordan Dillard baseline jumper cut the Yellow Jacket advantage to 32-23 with 2:41 to play in the opening half, Georgia Tech finished the half on an 8-2 run to take a 40-25 lead at halftime.

Hot shooting was the key in the first half for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets were 15-of-26 from the field (57.7%) in the game's first 20 minutes, while the Wildcats were just 9-of-32 for 28.1 percent.

Georgia Tech controlled the first eight minutes of the second half and led 54-37 at the 12:03 mark when the Wildcats mounted a comeback. A three-point field goal by junior guard Caroline Coyer started the Wildcat run. Following a defensive stop, Coyer converted a conventional three-point play to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 54-43 with 11:00 minutes to play.

Villanova made it a 56-48 game on a Coyer lay-up, before the Yellow Jackets made four straight free throws on consecutive possessions to increase the lead back to 12 at 60-48 with 8:08 remaining.

The Wildcats would not go away and junior forward Kavunaa Edwards helped Villanova pull within six at 62-56 at the 6:09 mark. Edwards hit back-to-back triples, before senior forward Taylor Holeman's jumper made it a six point contest.

Following the Holeman bucket, neither team was able to score for the next 3:13. Georgia Tech ended the scoring drought when Aaliyah Whiteside scored on a driving lay-up and was fouled. The three-point play gave the Yellow Jackets a 65-56 lead with 2:56 remaining. Holeman answered on the other end with a lay-up to slice the Georgia Tech advantage back to seven at 65-58.

Two more free throws by Whiteside increased the lead back to nine, before the Wildcats scored five of the game's next six points to make it a 68-63 contest with 36 seconds to play. Coyer accounted for four of Villanova's five points on two free throws and a pull-up jump shot.

Georgia Tech would make three of the four from the charity stripe in the last 30 seconds to secure the win. Coyer led the Wildcats in the loss with a career-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-8 effort from three-point range and a 3-of-3 effort from the foul line. She also had three rebounds, three assists, one steal and no turnovers in 39 minutes of action. Senior forward Lauren Burford tallied 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Burford connected on five three-point field goals. Edwards added 12 points on four made three-pointers.

Davis paced the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 24 points, while Whiteside had 13 points and six rebounds.

For the game, Villanova shot 32.4 percent from the field (22-of-68), 33.3 percent from three-point range (14-of-42) and 71.4 percent from the foul line (5-of-7), while Georgia Tech was 22-of-48 for 45.8 percent, 3-of-13 from long distance (23.1%) and 24-of-27 from the free throw line (88.9%). The Yellow Jackets owned a 45-28 advantage on the backboards. The Wildcats were charged with five turnovers and Georgia Tech had 14 miscues.

Villanova will finish play in the Gulf Coast Showcase on Sunday, Nov. 30, at noon. The Wildcats will play either College of Charleston or Minnesota.

NOTES: Junior guard Katherine Coyer missed today's game with an injury suffered in yesterday's contest...Caroline Coyer tied a career-high with four made three-point field goals...Today was just the second all-time meeting between Villanova and Georgia Tech. The series is now tied at 1-1...Villanova has had single digits in turnovers in three of the five games this season...The Wildcats had an assist on 16 of their 22 made field goals in today's loss.