VILLANOVA, PA. – In women's basketball exhibition action on Thursday evening, the Villanova Wildcats shot 57.4 percent from the field en route to a 98-54 win over visiting East Stroudsburg.
 
The Wildcats took control of the game early racing to a 21-3 lead midway through the opening quarter. The junior duo of Kelly Jekot and Mary Gedaka combined to score 15 of the 21 point,s with Jekot scoring nine and Gedaka adding six. Villanova would use the early surge to lead 29-12 after one quarter.
 
Hot shooting was the theme of the second quarter for Villanova as the Wildcats were 9-of-14 from the field for 64.3 percent. A lay-up by Jekot gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the first half at 52-22 with 11 seconds remaining until intermission. After a bucket by East Stroudsburg's Tiffany Lapotsky ended the first half scoring Villanova went to halftime with a commanding 52-24 lead.
 
Villanova would lead by as many as 44 and East Stroudsburg would not get within 26 in the second half.
 
Jekot led Villanova in the victory with 20 points on 9-of-9 shooting, including a 2-of-2 effort from three-point range. Gedaka was also perfect from the field on 7-of-7 shooting for 15 points. She also pulled-down a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Grace Stant had nine points, while senior Jannah Tucker and sophomore Brianna Herlihy registered eight points each.
 
East Stroudsburg was paced by Tiffany Lapotsky who had a game-high 21 points. She was the only East Stroudsburg player in double figures.
 
For the game, Villanova was 39-of-68 from the field (57.4%), 11-of-24 from three-point range (45.8%) and 9-of-14 from the foul line (64.3%), while East Stroudsburg was 22-of-58 from the floor (37.9%), 6-of-26 from long distance (23.1%) and 4-of-8 from the charity stripe (50.0%). The Wildcats owned a 40-28 advantage on the backboards. Villanova was charged with just eight turnovers.
 
Villanova will open the 2018-19 season on Wednesday, Nov. 7, against the University of Hartford. Tip-off at the Finneran Pavilion is set for 7 p.m.