VILLANOVA, PA. – In women's basketball action on Friday afternoon, the Villanova Wildcats lost to the No. 15 Marquette Golden Eagles by a score of 91-55. With the loss, Villanova falls to 10-5 overall and 2-3 in Big East Conference play, while Marquette improves to 13-3 overall and 4-0 in conference action.
The first quarter went back and forth with neither team able to open up more than a four point lead. Villanova trailed 14-11 when the Wildcats scored six straight points to take a 17-14 advantage with 1:40 left in the opening quarter. The six Villanova points included two lay-ups by sophomore forward Brianna Herlihy and a lay-up by junior forward Mary Gedaka.
Golden Eagle senior guard Natisha Hiedeman scored Marquette's last five points off the quarter to help her team take a 21-19 lead after one.
Marquette took control of the game over the first 6:18 of the second quarter when the Golden Eagles went on a 21-0 run to grab a commanding 42-19 lead. Villanova missed its first seven shots and committed three turnovers to start the second stanza. Sophomore guard Selena Lott scored seven points in the run, while Hiedeman added five.
Villanova would not get within 21 in the second half and Marquette would cruise to the victory.
In the loss, Gedaka led Villanova with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while junior guard Kelly Jekot had 13 points. Brianna Herlihy came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Marquette was paced by Hiedeman who had a game-high 24 points and senior guard Danielle King who tallied 17 points. Erika Davenport registered a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
For the game, Villanova was 25-of-63 from the field (39.7 %), 3-of-18 from three-point range (16.7%) and 2-of-4 from the foul line(50.0%), while the Golden Eagles shot 50.0 percent from the floor (32-of-64), 37.5 percent from behind the arc (6-of-16) and 84.0 percent from the charity stripe (21-of-25). Marquette owned a 40-21 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 13, when the Wildcats play host to the DePaul Blue Demons. Tip-off at the Finneran Pavilion is set for 1 p.m.
NOTES: Today was Education Day for Villanova where 1,000 grade school students were in attendance…Kelly Jekot has now scored double figures in 11 of the 15 games…The three triples made by Villanova are a season low…Marquette now leads the all-time series over the Wildcats by a 13-9 margin.
