Final Stats

PRINCETON, N.J.- Playing their first game as a nationally ranked team, the Villanova Wildcats traveled to Princeton University on Wednesday evening where they registered a 62-59 win over the host Tigers. The No. 24/25 Wildcats improve to 6-0 on the season, while Princeton falls to 3-2 on the year.

Villanova led 53-51 with 7:05 to play in regulation, when the Wildcats used a 9-2 run to take a 62-53 lead. After junior guard Adrianna Hahn started the spurt with a lay-up to increase the lead to 55-51, Princeton answered on its next possession with a lay-up by Bella Alarie to make it a 55-53 contest.

On Villanova's next trip down the court, sophomore forward Bridget Herlihy drained a three from the left wing and the Wildcats led 58-53. Villanova then forced a Tiger turnover and converted the miscue into points when senior guard Alex Louin scored on a driving lay-up. Louin would finish off the Wildcat run with two foul shots at the 4:03 mark. The Louin free throws increased the Villanova lead to 62-53.

After neither team was able to score for the next 1:25, Princeton scored the game's next four points on four free throws by Alarie to make it a 62-57 game with 2:02 left on the clock.

Villanova had a chance to increase its lead, but Hahn missed a jumper with 1:12 on the clock and two free throws with 1:04 to play. The Tigers made it a one possession game at 62-59, when Abby Meyers scored on an offensive rebound put back with 40 seconds remaining.

Following a missed Wildcat shot with 10 seconds on the clock, Princeton grabbed the rebound and called timeout to advance the ball to the front court. The Tigers ran a set play looking for the game-tying three, but the Wildcats played excellent defense and Herlihy blocked the triple attempt by Gabrielle Rush as time expired.

In the win, Louin led three Wildcats in double figures with 16 points, while Hahn had 15 points and sophomore forward Mary Gedaka tallied 12 points. Herlihy finished with a career-high eight points and senior center Megan Quinn added seven points and a game-best 10 rebounds.

Princeton was paced by Alarie who was sensational with a game-high 29 points to go with nine rebounds. She was 10-of-13 from the field, 3-of-3 from three-point range and 6-of-6 from the foul line. Meyers and Leslie Robinson had 10 points each.

For the game, Villanova was 23-of-49 from the field (46.9%), 7-of-16 from three-point range (43.8%) and 9-of-13 from the foul line (69.2%), while the Tigers shot 40.4 percent from the floor (23-of-57), 20.0 percent from behind the arc (3-of-15) and 100.0 percent from the charity stripe (10-of-10). Princeton owned a 35-28 advantage on the backboards.

Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 3, when the Saint Joseph's Hawks visit Jake Nevin Field House for a Big Five battle. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.

NOTES: Villanova now leads the all-time series with Princeton by an 11-6 countââ'¬Â¦The Wildcats improve to 63-9 all-time versus Ivy League competitionââ'¬Â¦Adrianna Hahn has 37 career double figure scoring gamesââ'¬Â¦Villanova has played five of its first six games away from homeââ'¬Â¦With her 16 points tonight, Alex Louin now has 1,117 career points which ranks 17th in program historyââ'¬Â¦The Wildcat bench scored 20 of the team's 62 points.