Final Stats

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Villanova Wildcats traveled to South Orange, N.J., on Friday night where they tallied a 67-59 win over the Seton Hall Pirates. With the victory, Villanova improves to 14-2 overall and 4-2 in Big East play, while Seton Hall falls to 10-8 overall and 2-5 in conference action.

Seton Hall led 42-38 after three quarters when Villanova started the fourth quarter on a 15-2 run to take a 53-44 lead with 4:31 remaining. Sophomore forward Mary Gedaka was sensational in the run scoring 10 of the 15 points. The 10 points included two free throws, a three-point field goal, a conventional three-point play and a 10-foot jump shot. Junior forward Jannah Tucker had a three-ball and sophomore guard Kelly Jekot connected on a 15-foot jumper during the decisive spurt.

The Pirates answered the Wildcats run by scoring six straight points to cut the Villanova lead to 53-50 at the 3:09 mark. Following a scoreless possession by each team, Villanova took a 55-50 advantage with 2:27 on the clock when senior Alex Louin connected on two free throws.

After Seton Hall's Kaela Hilaire misfired on two shots, Tucker grabbed the rebound for the Wildcats with a five point lead. Villanova then ran the shot clock down and Jekot drained a big three from the corner to give the Wildcats a 58-50 lead with 1:10 to play.

The Pirates would not go away, as senior guard Donnaizha Fountain scored on a lay-up and was fouled. Fountain's foul shot pulled Seton Hall within five at 58-53 with 58 seconds remaining. Villanova called a timeout and advanced the ball to the front court where they inbounded the ball to Jekot who was immediately fouled. Jekot calmly made both free throws to put her team up 60-53.

Villanova went 7-of-8 from the foul line in the last 35 seconds to seal the win.

The Wildcats made just 6-of-28 from the field, including 3-of-13 from three in the first half, as Seton Hall went to halftime with a 26-17 advantage. Fountain led the Pirate charge in the first half with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Villanova managed to get back in the game midway through the third quarter. Seton Hall held a 34-26 lead with 4:29 on the clock, when the Wildcats used a 12-5 run to make it a 39-38 game. The Pirates pushed the lead to 42-38 entering the fourth quarter on a three-ball from the corner by Shadeen Samuels that beat the third quarter buzzer.

After scoring just 17 first half points, Villanova exploded for 50 points in the second half on 14-of-29 shooting (.482) and a 5-of-11 effort from the three-point range (.454). The Wildcats were 17-of-18 from the foul line in the second half for 94.4 percent.

In the win, Jekot had 21 points, while Gedaka finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. She was 6-of-9 from the field, 1-of-1 from three-point range and 3-of-3 from the line. Tucker added 11 points and junior guard Adrianna Hahn had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Seton Hall was paced by Fountain who had a double-double with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Samuels added 20 points and nine boards.

For the game, Villanova shot 35.1 percent from the field (20-of-57), 33.3 percent from three-point range (8-of-24) and 95.0 percent from the foul line (19-of-20), while the Pirates were 22-of-56 from the floor (39.3%), 5-of-12 from long distance (41.7%) and 10-of-14 from the charity stripe (71.4%). Seton Hall owned a 41-34 advantage on the backboards. The Wildcats were charged with just seven turnovers.

Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 14, with a road game at St. John's. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

NOTES: Villanova improves to 40-22 all-time versus Seton Hall and have won nine of the last 13 against the Piratesââ'¬Â¦The Wildcats have won 12 of the last 15 games at Seton Hall's Walsh Gymnasiumââ'¬Â¦Villanova improves to 8-1 on the road this yearââ'¬Â¦Kelly Jekot now has a team-high five 20-point games this yearââ'¬Â¦Villanova had seven turnovers tonight which is the team's 10th single digit turnover game this yearââ'¬Â¦The sophomore duo of Kelly Jekot and Mary Gedaka combined to score 27 of Villanova's 50 second half points and 20 of the 29 4th quarter points.