Box Score

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. --- In women's basketball action on Sunday, Feb. 22, the Villanova Wildcats gave a valiant effort but came up short in a 64-62 loss to the Seton Hall Pirates. With the loss, Villanova falls to 16-12 overall and 10-6 in Big East play, while the Pirates improve to 24-4 overall and 13-3 in conference action.

Seton Hall outscored Villanova, 14-4, over the first 9:21 of the second half to take a 42-40 lead with 11:22 remaining in regulation. After the Pirates took the two point lead, the game went back-and-forth for the next 4:30 with five ties. Leading 51-49, Seton Hall took its biggest lead of the game when Daisha Simmons drained a three from the wing to give the Pirates a 54-49 advantage at the 6:48 mark.

On Villanova's next possession, senior center Emily Leer buried a three to pull the Wildcats to within two at 54-52. The Pirates answered on their next possession when Janee Johnson made a trifecta and Seton Hall led by five again at 57-52. Wildcat senior forward Taylor Holeman then connected on a turnaround jumper to slice the Pirate lead to 57-54 with 4:59 remaining.

Following a defensive stop, Katherine Coyer tied the game at 57-57 when she made a three from the left wing. A minute later, Johnson made another triple and Seton Hall had a 60-57 advantage with 3:23 left. The Pirates had the ball with a chance to take a two possession lead, but Holeman came up with a big steal for the Wildcats. On the ensuing possession, Holeman was fouled driving to the basket. Holeman made two free throws and the Wildcats trailed 60-59.

Ka-Deidre Simmons put the Pirates up three at 62-59 at the 2:23 mark when she scored on a 12-foot pull-up jumper. Holeman was fouled again on Villanova's next possession where she made one of two from the stripe. The foul shot made it a 62-60 Seton Hall lead.

After neither team was able to score of the next 1:31, the Wildcats tied the game at 62-62 when Holeman made a jumper in the lane with 19 seconds to play. With the shot clock off, Seton Hall ran the clock down and Daisha Simmons scored the game-winner when she converted a driving lay-up with 4.5 seconds remaining. The Wildcats had one last attempt to tie the game, but Caroline Coyer's jumper was off target as time expired.

Villanova trailed 9-8 with 14:02 remaining in the opening half, when the Wildcats used an 11-2 run to take a 19-11 advantage at the 9:06 mark. Two three-point field goals by sophomore center Brandi Teague highlighted the run.

Seton Hall cut into Villanova's 27-19 lead when the Pirates scored five straight points to make it a 27-24 game with 4:52 on the clock. After a lay-up by Caroline Coyer gave Villanova a 29-24 advantage, Holeman scored six of Villanova's final seven points of the half to give the Wildcats a 36-28 lead at intermission.

Holeman was outstanding in the first half for Villanova with 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. The Wildcats shot 44.1 percent in the opening 20 minutes (15-of-34), including a 5-of-15 effort from three (33.3%). The Pirates were 12-of-33 (36.4%) and 3-of-13 (23.1%).

In the loss, Holeman scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds. She was 11-of-20 from the field and 3-of-4 from the foul line. Leer added 11 points, while Caroline Coyer had five points, eight assists, three steals and three rebounds.

Seton Hall was paced by Daisha Simmons with 22 points and Johnson who had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

For the game, Villanova shot 40.0 percent from the field (24-of-60), 29.6 percent from three-point range (8-of-27) and 75.0 percent from the foul line (6-of-8), while Seton Hall was 25-of-59 from the floor (42.4%), 7-of-20 from long distance (35.0%) and 7-of-15 from the charity stripe (46.7%). The Wildcats had a 39-37 advantage on the backboards. Villanova was charged with nine turnovers.

Villanova returns to action on Friday, Feb. 27, when the Wildcats play host to the Providence Friars. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on Fox Sports 1.

NOTES: Taylor Holeman registered her second double-double of the season today...The Wildcats had 19 assists on 24 field goals...After starting the second half 1-of-11 from the field, Villanova made 8 of its last 15 field goals...Villanova had won 10 of its last 11 trips to Seton Hall before today's loss...The Wildcats lose two Big East games in a row for the first time this season.