SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – In women's basketball action on Wednesday afternoon, the Villanova Wildcats earned a key road win at Seton Hall by a score of 78-71. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 8-2 overall and 3-2 in BIG EAST play, while Seton Hall falls to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in league action.
 
Led by senior forward Desiree Elmore, Seton Hall controlled play in the first quarter and led 20-12 after the game's first 10 minutes. Elmore was 4-of-5 from the field for 11 first quarter points. The Wildcats struggled offensively in the first, shooting just 29.4 percent (5-of-17), including an 0-of-5 effort from three-point range.
 
Villanova started the second quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 23-22 lead. Following two Seton Hall free throws that put the Pirates back up one at 24-23, the Wildcats scored six straight points to lead 29-24 with 3:53 remaining until halftime. The six points included a short jumper by senior forward Sarah Mortensen and lay-ups by the freshmen duo of Taliyah Medina and Lior Garzon.
 
The Wildcats shot 61.9 percent in the second quarter (13-of-21) and outscored the Pirates, 28-14, en route to a 40-34 halftime lead. Mortensen led Villanova in the first half with 12 points.
 
Maddy Siegrist was the story of the third quarter for the Wildcats. The sophomore star was 4-of-4 from the field, including a 2-of-2 effort from three-point range for 10 points in the third stanza. Villanova would go 3-of-6 from three and shoot 46.7 percent from the floor in the third quarter to lead the Wildcats to a 58-53 advantage after three quarters of play.
 
A 9-2 spurt over the first 4:26 of the fourth quarter helped Villanova open-up a 67-55 lead. Medina and Brianna Herlihy highlighted the run with Medina scoring five on a three and driving lay-up and Herlihy connecting on two short jump shots.
 
With the Wildcats on the verge of putting the game away, Seton Hall got back-to-back three-point field goals by Andra Espinoza-Hunter and Alexia Allesch and a driving lay-up by Lauren Park-Lane that cut the Villanova advantage to 67-63 at the 3:04 mark.
 
After a foul line jumper by Herlihy ended the Seton Hall 8-0 run and gave Villanova a 69-63 lead, the Pirates made it a four-point game on their next trip down the court when Park-Lane converted two free throws.  On the game's next possession, Herlihy made a bank shot three from the right wing to increase her team's lead to 72-65 with 1:36 remaining.
 
Leading 74-68 with 34 seconds to play, Villanova sealed the win when Garzon stepped in the passing lane for a steal and a breakaway lay-up that put the Wildcats up eight at 76-68.
 
In the victory, Siegrist led the way with 23 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Herlihy registered her second double-double of the year with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Mortensen finished with 14 points and six caroms and Medina was the fourth Wildcat in double figures with a career-high 11 points.
 
Seton Hall was paced by Park-Lane who had a game-high 27 points and Elmore who netted 15 points.
 
For the game, Villanova was 33-of-68 from the field (48.55), 7-of-21 from three-point range (33.3%) and 5-of-6 from the foul line (83.3%), while Seton Hall shot 41.0 percent from the floor (25-of-61), 31.8 percent from long distance (7-of-22) and 93.3 percent from the charity stripe (93.3%). The Wildcats owned a 42-29 advantage on the backboards.
 
NOTES: Villanova has now won eight of nine versus Seton Hall and leads the all-time series by a 45-23 count…The Wildcats are now 15-3 in their last 18 games at Seton Hall's Walsh Gymnasium…Today was the seventh 20-point game of the season and 22nd of her career for Maddy Siegrist…Sarah Mortensen has tallied double figures in six of the eight games she has played in this year…Today was the fourth 20-point game of the season for Brianna Herlihy…The Wildcats shot 50.0 percent from the field in the second half (15-of-30)… Raven James dished out a game-high seven assists in today's win…The Villanova bench out scored the Seton Hall reserves by a 21-2 count.