HAMDEN, CONN. – On Sunday, Nov. 29, the Villanova Wildcats traveled to Hamden, Conn., where they tallied a 63-60 road win over the Quinnipiac Bobcats. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 2-0 on the young season, while Quinnipiac falls to 1-1.
 
Villanova raced to an 11-0 lead to start the game with sophomore forward Maddy Siegrist and senior forward Brianna Herlihy leading the way. Siegrist had six points in the early spurt and Herlihy added five on a lay-up and a three-ball. After Quinnipiac responded with a 12-6 run to make it a 17-12 game, the Wildcats closed the quarter with back-to-back buckets by Siegrist and sophomore forward Sarah Mortensen to take a 21-12 lead after one quarter of play.
 
The Wildcats led 26-21 with 3:14 to play in the second quarter, when Siegrist scored on a short jumper and freshman Bella Runyan converted a driving lay-up to give Villanova a 30-21 advantage. Quinnipiac closed out the first half scoring with two free throws by Amani Free to send the teams to intermission with Villanova leading 30-23.
 
Siegrist was dominant in the first half with 15 points.
 
Quinnipiac scored the first four points of the third quarter to slice the Wildcat lead to 30-27. With momentum starting to swing towards the Bobcats, Villanova ran off seven straight points to open up a double digit lead at 37-27. The seven points included a conventional three-point play by Herlihy, a short jump shot by junior guard Sam Carangi and a lay-up by Siegrist.
 
The Wildcats would control the remainder of the third quarter and lead 47-39 after three.
 
Villanova led 54-45 with 7:15 to play in regulation when the Bobcats used a 9-0 run to cut the Wildcat advantage to one at 54-53 with 4:57 on the clock. Mortensen ended the Quinnipiac run with an and one off an offensive rebound put back. The Mortensen free throw gave her team a 57-53 lead with 4:28 to play.
 
On the next trip down the court, Mackenzie DeWees converted a driving lay-up and Quinnipiac trailed 57-55. Following an empty possession by each team, Villanova scored four straight points on a Runyan jumper and a lay-up by Mortensen to increase the Wildcat advantage to 61-55 at the 1:56 mark.
 
The Bobcats would not go away and a lay-up by Mikala Morris made it a 61-60 game with 10 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Villanova advanced the ball to the front court and inbounded the ball to Siegrist with 9.1 seconds left. Siegrist connected on both foul shots and the Wildcats led 63-60.
 
Quinnipiac raced the ball up the court looking for the game-tying three, but the Wildcats played outstanding defense and forced an off balance three from Bobcat guard Rose Caverly that was off target as time expired.
 
Siegrist led the way in the win with 25 points and 10 rebounds. She was 9-of-18 from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line. Mortensen registered 16 points, while Herlihy had 10 points and seven caroms.
 
DeWees led four Bobcats in double figures with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Caverly and Sajada Bonner had 11 points each. Morris chipped in with 10 points.
 
For the game, Villanova was 26-fo-59 from the field (44.1%), 2-of-16 from three-point range (12.5%) and 9-of-12 from the foul line (75.0%), while the Bobcats shot 34.5 percent from the floor (19-of-55), 38.9 percent from long distance (7-of-18) and 88.2 percent from the charity stripe (15-of-17). The Wildcats owned a 37-33 advantage on the backboards.
 
NOTES: Villanova is now 3-0 all-time versus Quinnipiac…Maddy Siegrist has scored 20 points or more in 17 of 33 career games…Siegrist now has 13 career double-doubles, including one in each game this season…Villanova has been credited with an assist on 45 of its 56 field goals (80.3%) this season…Brianna Herlihy is 8-of-12 from the field in the first two contests.