Final Stats

Indianapolis, Ind. -

In women's basketball action on Friday, Jan. 20, The Villanova Wildcats rallied from a 22 point third quarter deficit to stun the Butler Bulldogs in overtime by a score of 70-69. Villanova has now won four in a row to improve to 10-9 overall and 5-3 in Big East Conference play. Butler falls to 5-14 overall and 2-6 in league play.

Villanova trailed 55-51 with 12 seconds remaining in regulation when sophomore guard Adrianna Hahn drained a deep three to cut the lead to one at 55-54. The Wildcats then fouled Butler's Sydney Buck on the inbounds pass. After Buck made both foul shots to put the Bulldogs up 59-56 with nine seconds to go, Wildcat junior guard Alex Louin raced the ball up the court. As Butler attempted to take a foul on purpose, Louin took a shot from about 40 feet away with 2.8 seconds remaining and was awarded three foul shots. Louin calmly sank all three free throws to send the game into overtime at 59-59.

After a Tori Schickel lay-up put Butler up 61-59 at the 3:54 mark of overtime, Wildcat redshirt freshman forward Grace Stant gave Villanova the lead for good when she connected on a three form the left wing.

Following two Schickel free throws that pulled Butler within one at 64-63 with 2:22 play, the Wildcats scored five straight points to increase their lead to 69-63. The five points included a three by junior center Megan Quinn and two free throws by Hahn. Schickel made two more free throws to make it a one possession game at 69-66 with eight seconds left. Freshman forward Mary Gedaka would then put the game away for the Wildcats when she made one of two from the line.

Villanova shot 6-of-35 (17.1%) from the field in the first half and trailed 33-19 at intermission. The second half didn't start much better for Villanova, as Butler scored the first eight points of the third quarter to open up its largest lead of the game at 41-19 with 7:21 remaining in the third stanza.

Buck finished the third quarter scoring for the Bulldogs and gave her team a 43-29 lead on a 15-foot jump shot. Following the Buck basket, neither team was able to score for the last 2:12 of the quarter.

Villanova trailed 47-36 with 7:01 remaining in the fourth quarter when the Wildcats went on an 8-1 run to slice the Butler lead to 48-44 at the 4:28 mark. Stant and Hahn both had threes in the run, while Gedaka scored on a short jump shot.

Taylor Buford slowed the Wildcat momentum with a lay-up that increased the Butler lead to 50-44 with 4:02 on the clock. On Villanova's next possession, Gedaka made two free throws to get it back to a four point game at 50-46. Louin then came up with a steal and Stant took advantage of the defensive stop when she converted on a lay-up.

The Wildcats got another defensive stop on Butler's next trip down the court and had possession of the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. Villanova ran its offensive set to perfection and Quinn gave the Wildcats the lead at 51-50 when she drained a three with 2:33 remaining.

Butler would re-take the lead at 52-51 at the 1:40 mark on a running lay-up by Michelle Weaver. The Wildcats had two good looks at a three on their next possession, but Stant misfired on both. Buck would then make three-of-four from the line to put the Bulldogs up 55-51.

Butler made five of its first six shots to start the game and raced to a 10-0 lead. The Bulldogs dominated the first 10 minutes and led 19-5 after one quarter of play. Villanova finished the first quarter shooting just 6.3 percent from the field (1-of-16).

Gedaka led the Wildcats in the win with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. She also added four assists, two steals and a block. Louin also posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Stant came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points and connect on a career-best four three-point field goals. Quinn had seven points, 12 rebounds and a career-high six blocks.

Butler was paced by Schickel who was outstanding with 28 points and 20 rebounds. Buck finished with 19 points.

For the game, Villanova shot 27.9 percent from the field (19-of-68), 34.4 percent from three-point range (11-of-32) and 77.8 percent from the foul line (21-of-27), while Butler was 25-of-74 from the floor (33.8%), 4-of-15 from long distance (26.7%) and 15-of-19 from the charity stripe (78.9%). Butler owned a 53-47 advantage on the backboards. The Wildcats were charged with just nine turnovers.

Villanova returns to action on Sunday with a Big East road game at Xavier. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.

NOTES: Villanova leads the all-time series over Butler by a 7-1 countââ'¬Â¦The Wildcats improve to 4-2 on the road this seasonââ'¬Â¦In her last three games, Mary Gedaka has tallied 42 points and 26 reboundsââ'¬Â¦After making 11 threes tonight, Villanova now has nine games this year of making double digit triplesââ'¬Â¦Villanova was credited with 14 blocked shots in the gameââ'¬Â¦.The Wildcats are 6-1 in the month of January.