VILLANOVA, PA. – The Villanova Wildcats improved to 9-3 overall and 1-1 in Big East play with a 75-71 home win over the visiting Xavier Musketeers. With the loss, Xavier falls to 9-4 overall and 0-2 in conference action.
Despite committing 10 first half turnovers and shooting 39.3 percent from the floor, Villanova went to halftime with a 32-22 lead. Senior guard Adrianna Hahn made three first half triples for nine points, while junior guard Kelly Jekot added eight points to lead the Wildcats in the first 20 minutes.
Villanova started the third quarter by making its first five three-point field goals to open up a 47-26 lead at the 6:40 mark. Senior forward Jannah Tucker had two of the five threes, while Jekot, Hahn and senior guard Grace Stant added one each.
After a Jekot lay-up with 2:39 left in the third quarter gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game at 59-30, Xavier closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to slice the Villanova advantage to 61-39 after three.
Wildcat redshirt freshman guard Emily Esposito drained a three on Villanova's first possession of the fourth quarter, before the Musketeers made a furious comeback. Starting with a short jumper by Na'Teshia Owens with 8:57 to play, Xavier scored 19 straight points to pull within six at 64-58 with 4:13 remaining.
Esposito ended the 19-0 run when she connected on a 12-foot jumper to make it a 66-58 Wildcat lead. The Musketeers then ran off five straight points and Xavier trailed 66-63 with 2:21 on the clock.
Following a lay-up by junior forward Mary Gedaka that increased her team's lead to 68-63, Xavier freshman guard Carrie Gross scored on a lay-up and made one of two from the foul line and the Villanova lead was down to two at 68-66 with 58 seconds remaining.
Villanova took a timeout and ran a set play to perfection when Jekot buried a three from the corner off a nice pass from Gedaka. The Jekot trifecta gave the Wildcats a 71-66 advantage with 44 seconds to go.
Xavier cut the lead to three with 15 seconds on the clock when Hahn sealed the win for the Wildcats by making two-of-two from the foul line.
Jekot was sensational in the win with a game-high 23 points to go with six rebounds and three assists. She was 7-of-14 from the field, 5-of-11 from three-point range and 4-of-5 from the foul line. Hahn finished with 19 points, while Esposito came off the bench to score 13 points. Hahn was 5-of-10 from three-point range and Esposito was 6-of-10 from the field.
The Musketeers were paced by Owens who had 19 points and Princess Stewart who added 17 points off the bench. Aaliyah Dunham also reached double figures with 13 points.
For the game, Villanova was 26-of-56 from the field (46.4 %), 15-of-37 from three-point range (40.5%) and 8-of-9 from the foul line (88.9%), while Xavier shot 48.3 percent from the floor (28-of-58), 33.3 percent from behind the arc (6-of-18) and 56.3 percent from the charity stripe (9-of-16). The Wildcats owned a 34-29 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova returns to action on Friday, Jan. 4, with a game at Creighton. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. eastern time.
NOTES: Villanova leads the all-time series over Xavier by an 11-1 count…Kelly Jekot has scored double figures in eight games this season, including four games of 20 points or more…The Wildcats had an assist on 20 of their 26 made field goals…Adrianna Hahn moved past Liad Suez-Karni and Nikki Benedix and into 15th place on Villanova's all-time scoring list with 1,283 career points…Villanova improves to 6-1 at home this season…The 15 made three-pointers by Villanova represent a season-high.
