VILLANOVA, PA. – In a New Year's Eve matinee, the Villanova Wildcats tallied a thrilling 76-73 win over the visiting Seton Hall Pirates in a BIG EAST Conference contest. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 7-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play, while Seton Hall falls to 6-6 overall and 1-3 in league action.
Seton Hall led 63-58 with 7:13 to play when Villanova scored six straight points to take a 64-63 advantage. The six Wildcat points included a lay-up by sophomore Lior Garzon, a short jumper by Brianna Herlihy and a fast break lay-up by junior forward Maddy Siegrist.
Villanova held a 67-65 lead when Andra Espinoza-Hunter connected on a jumper in the lane and the game was tied with 2:09 to play. On Villanova's next possession, the Wildcats ran their offensive set to perfection when Garzon drained a deep three to put Villanova up 70-67 at the 1:43 mark. Following two Mya Jackson free throws that sliced the Wildcat advantage to 70-69, Villanova went back-up three at 72-69 on a driving lay-up by Siegrist with 1:09 remaining.
The Wildcats got a defensive stop on the game's next possession and had the ball with 58 seconds to go. Villanova ran the shot clock down and took a two-possession lead at 74-69 when Siegrist connected a left-handed lay-up.
Two Herlihy free throws with 15 seconds on the clock increased the Villanova advantage to 76-71, before Espinoza-Hunter made a short jumper with 9.7 seconds remaining. The Pirates then forced a Villanova turnover and Seton Hall had the ball under its own basket down 76-73. The Wildcats came up with a strong defensive possession and forced a tough three by Espinoza-Hunter that was off target.
In the win, Siegrist led the way with 23 points and nine rebounds, while Herlihy had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Garzon was the third Wildcat in double figures with 14 points. Seton was paced by Espinoza-Hunter who had 20 points and Sidney Cooks who tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds.
For the game, Villanova was 30-of-64 from the field (46.9%), 8-of-30 from three-point range (26.7%) and 8-of-12 from the foul line (66.7%), while Seton Hall shot 38.2 percent from the floor (26-of-68), 44.4 percent from long distance (8-of-18) and 92.9 percent from the charity stripe (13-of-14).
The Wildcats will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 2, when the St. John's Red Storm visit the Finneran Pavilion. Tip-off is set for noon and the game can be seen live on FS1.
NOTES: Villanova has now beaten Seton Hall in nine of the last 11 meetings and lead the series by a 46-24 margin…Maddy Siegrist has 35 career 20-point games, including four this season…Brianna Herlihy has registered three-straight double-doubles and has seven for her career…Lior Garzon has scored double figures in nine of the 12 games this year…The Wildcats registered 42 points in the paint…Villanova led for only 8:34 of today's game.
FIRST QUARTER:
** Seton Hall was 4-of-7 from three-point range
** Villanova was just 1-of-8 from long distance
** The Wildcats committed five turnovers
** Lauren Park-Lane led all scorers in the opening quarter with six points
SECOND QUARTER:
** Villanova was 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from three
** Kaitlyn Orihel had six points on two, three-point field goals
** The Wildcats had an assist on six of the seven field goals
** Andra Espinoza-Hunter led the Pirates with seven points.
THIRD QUARTER:
** Maddy Siegrist tallied 10 points
** The Wildcats were just 1-of-7 from three
** Espinoza-Hunter, Sidney Cooks and Mya Jackson combined to score all 18 third quarter points
