ESTERO, FLA. – In the third place game at the Gulf Coast Showcase on Sunday evening, the No. 23 Villanova Wildcats controlled play from beginning to end and earned a 72-50 win over the South Florida Bulls. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 6-1 on the season, while USF falls to 7-2.
The highlight of the night was Villanova star forward Maddy Siegrist who became just the third player in program history to score 2,000 career points. She accomplished the feat on a 10-foot jump shot at the 3:46 mark of the third quarter. Siegrist joins Shelly Pennefather (2,408 points/1983-87) and Nancy Bernhardt (2,018 points/ 1980-84) in the Wildcat 2,000-point club.
Villanova came out on fire from behind arc racing to a 9-2 lead on two three-point field goals by junior Maddie Burke and one by sophomore guard Lucy Olsen. Villanova would use the early surge to score 25 first quarter points and lead 25-11 after one.
Villanova was a sizzling 10-of-14 from the field (71.4%) and 5-of-6 from long distance (83.3%) in the opening quarter.
The Wildcats controlled play throughout the second quarter and opened-up their biggest lead of the half at 39-18 on a lay-up by Siegrist at the 2:16 mark. Villanova would go to intermission with a 39-23 lead.
Shooting was the difference in the first half, as Villanova was 15-of-32 from the field and 5-of-13 from three in the game's first 20 minutes, while the Bulls were 10-of-35 and 1-of-6.
South Florida scored six of the first eight points of the second half to cut the Wildcat advantage to 41-29. Center Dulcy Fankam Mendijadeu led the charge for the Bulls scoring all six of their points.
Villanova responded with a 13-5 run to take a 54-34 lead with 2:35 remaining in the third quarter. Siegrist was dominant in the spurt scoring eight of her team's 13 points.
Following the decisive run, the Wildcats would lead by as many as 24 and South Florida would not get within 17 the rest of the way.
In the win, Siegrist had a game-high 25 points to go with seven rebounds and two blocks. She was 10-of-19 from the field, 1-of-2 from three and 4-of-4 from the foul line. Olsen was the second Wildcat in double figures with 13 points. She also added five assists, three steals and three rebounds. Burke and freshman Megan Olbrys chipped in with nine points.
South Florida was paced by Sammie Puisis with 17 points and Mendijadeu who had 14 points and 17 rebounds.
For the game, Villanova was 28-of-58 from the field (48.3%), 9-of-20 from three-point range (45.0%) and 7-of-8 from the foul line (87.5%), while the Bulls shot 33.9 percent from the floor (19-of-56), 11.1 percent from behind the arc (1-of-9) and 55.0 percent from the charity stripe (11-of-20). South Florida owned a 41-32 advantage on the backboards. Villanova committed just eight turnovers in the victory.
Villanova returns to action on Friday, Dec. 2, when the nationally ranked Creighton Bluejays visit the Finneran Pavilion for both the home and BIG EAST opener. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
NOTES: Villanova improves to 3-3 all-time in the Gulf Coast Showcase…The Wildcats start the year 6-1 in games away from home, including a 4-0 road mark and a 2-1 record in neutral site games…Lucy Olsen tallied 51 points in the three-day tournament…Maddy Siegrist now has 58 career 20-point efforts.
