PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – In women's basketball action on Thursday evening at The Palestra, the No. 24 Villanova Wildcats tallied a 67-41 win over the Penn Quakers. With the victory, Villanova improves to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in Philadelphia Big 5 play, while Penn falls to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in Big 5 action.
Villanova led 25-18 with 5:32 to play in the first half, when the Wildcats used a 10-1 run to open-up a 35-19 advantage at the 2:40 mark. Back-to-back three-balls by Junior Maddie Burke started the spurt for Villanova. Maddy Siegrist had a lay-up and Kaitlyn Orihel added two free throws.
A third three by Burke gave Villanova its largest lead of the half at 42-25 with 1:09 on the clock. Penn forward Jordan Obi finished the first half scoring with a 15-foot turn around jumper that sent the teams to halftime with Villanova leading 42-27.
Villanova committed just one first half turnover and connected on 15-of-30 from the field and 6-of-10 from long distance in the game's first 20 minutes.
The Wildcat defense took control of the game in the third quarter holding Penn to just four third quarter points on 1-of-17 shooting. Leading 44-29 with 7:07 remaining in the third quarter, Villanova finished the quarter on a 14-2 run to take a commanding 58-31 lead after three.
Villanova would lead by as many as 31 in the fourth quarter and cruise to the win.
In the victory, Siegrist led the Wildcats with 22 points and 11 rebounds. She was 9-of-17 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range. Burke finished with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three. Sophomore guard Lucy Olsen added nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
Penn had three players with eight points, including Stina Almqvist, Mandy McGurk and Kayla Padilla.
For the game, Villanova was 25-of-64 from the field (39.1%), 8-of-16 from three (50.0%) and 12-of-16 from the foul line (75.0%), while Penn shot 22.4 percent from the floor (13-of-58), 18.8 percent from behind the arc (3-of-16) and 75.0 percent from the charity stripe (12-of-16). Each team was credited with 44 rebounds. Villanova was charged with just five turnovers.
Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 20, with a road game at Temple. Tip-off at the Liacouras Center is set for 5 p.m.
NOTES: Villanova now leads the all-time series over Penn by 46-3 count…The Wildcats improve to 27-2 all-time in games played at The Palestra…Villanova is now 126-41 all-time in Big 5
games…The Wildcats are 69-11 all-time versus Ivy League competition, including 2-0 this season…Maddy Siegrist tallied her 54th career 20-point game and 40th career double-double… Villanova improves to 3-0 on the road this season.
