SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Villanova Wildcats traveled to South Orange, N.J., on Friday afternoon where they came away with a 61-55 win over the Seton Hall Pirates. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 7-6 overall and 2-1 in Big East play, while Seton Hall falls to 9-5 on the year and 2-1 in conference action.
Villanova led 40-37 with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter, when the Wildcats finished the period on a 9-2 run to open up a 49-39 advantage after three. Redshirt freshman forward Maddy Siegrist got the spurt started with two free throws. After senior forward Mary Gedaka split a pair at the line, Siegrist scored on a bank shot in the lane. The final five Villanova points of the quarter came on a three-ball by senior forward Bridget Herlihy and two foul shots by junior guard Raven James.
Seton Hall came out strong in the fourth and scored the first seven points of the quarter to slice the Wildcat lead to 49-46. Three different Pirates scored in the run, including a three by Alexis Lewis. After Wildcat sophomore guard Sam Carangi scored on a driving lay-up for Villanova's first points of the final quarter, neither team was able to score for the next 1:51.
Pirate freshman guard Mya Jackson ended the scoreless stretch with a deep three that cut the Wildcat lead to 51-49 with 5:00 to play. On the game's next possession, the Wildcats ran a deliberate set and Gedaka put her team up 53-49 on a lay-up off a nice feed from Herlihy.
Seton Hall tallied the next three points of the game on a free throw by Jackson and a 10-foot jumper from Barbara Johnson to slice the Villanova advantage to 53-52 at the 3:33 mark. On the Wildcats next trip down the court, Gedaka drained a 12-foot jumper to put Villanova up 55-52.
Following a bucket by Pirate junior Desiree Elmore that made it a 55-54 game with 1:42 left, Villanova ran an offensive set to perfection that resulted in a three-point field goal from straight away from James. The James trifecta gave the Wildcats a two possession lead at 58-54 with 1:19 on the clock.
After each team failed to score on its next possession, Pirate forward Shadeen Samuels was fouled with 17 seconds remaining. Samuels made one of two from the stripe and the Pirates were within three at 58-55. Villanova advanced the ball to the front court where the Pirates were forced take two fouls to put Villanova into the bonus. With 13 seconds left, Siegrist was fouled and sent to the line for two shots. Siegrist calmly sank both free throws and the Wildcats led 59-55.
Seton Hall then advanced the ball to the front court and ran a play where Elmore's 15-foot jumper was off target. Gedaka grabbed the defensive rebound to secure the win for Villanova.
In the victory, Gedaka led the way with a game-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Siegrist registered a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Herlihy added 11 points, five caroms and four assists. Carangi came off the bench to score a career-high eight points, while junior guard Cameron Onken pulled-down nine rebounds.
Seton Hall was paced by Johnson and Elmore who has 12 points each. Samuels had a double-double with 11 points and a game-best 14 rebounds.
For the game, Villanova was 22-of-56 from the field (39.3%), 10-of-30 from three-point range (33.3%) and 7-of-10 from the foul line (70.0%), while the Pirates shot 32.8 percent from the floor (19-of-58), 18.5 percent from long distance (5-of-27) and 66.7 percent from the charity stripe (12-of-18). Seton Hall owned a 42-35 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 5, with a road game at St. John's. Tip-off at Carnesecca Arena is set for 2 p.m.
NOTES: Today was Mary Gedaka's 15th career 20-point game…Maddy Siegrist leads the Big East with four double-doubles…Villanova has now won seven straight over Seton Hall and are 14-3 in their last 17 trips to Walsh Gymnasium…The Wildcats have won seven of their last 10 games…Villanova held Seton Hall 16 points below its season average in today's win…Maddy Siegrist has scored double figures in 12 of the 13 games this season.
