HARTFORD, CONN. – The Villanova Wildcats tallied one of the biggest upsets of the women's college basketball season on Wednesday evening when the Wildcats registered a 72-69 win over the No. 8 Connecticut Huskies in a game played at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. With the victory, Villanova improves to 16-6 overall and 10-3 in BIG EAST play, while the Huskies fall to 15-5 and 9-1.
Villanova came out on fire and dominated the early going racing to a 17-7 lead. Sophomore Lior Garzon and junior Maddy Siegrist combined to score 15 of the 17 points with Garzon scoring eight and Siegrist seven. The Wildcats would shoot a blistering 58.7 percent in the opening quarter, including a 5-of-11 effort from three-point range and lead 25-15 after one.
Both teams shot 57 percent in the second quarter and Villanova's lead stayed at single digits throughout. Following a bucket by Azzi Fudd that cut the Wildcat lead to 39-34 with 1:02 left in the first half, Villanova freshman Lucy Olsen closed out the second quarter scoring with a 15-foot jumper. The Olsen basket sent the Wildcats to intermission with a 41-34 lead.
Leading 48-37 with 4:10 to play in the third quarter, Villanova went on an 11-3 run to take a 59-40 advantage at the 1:44 mark. Following a short jumper by junior Brooke Mullin that started the spurt, the Wildcats hit three consecutive threes with Mullin, Garzon and Brianna Herlihy connecting from long distance. The run would propel Villanova to a 62-45 lead after three.
Two Fudd free throws made it a 65-49 game early in the fourth quarter, before neither team was able to score for the next 4:43. Fudd ended the scoreless drought when she drained a triple to pull the Huskies within 65-52 with 3:59 remaining.
Following a Siegrist lay-up that increased her team's lead to 67-52, the Huskies used an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 69-63 with 56 seconds left. After Olsen split a pair at the line, Fudd converted a driving lay-up and the Huskies trailed 70-65 with 36 seconds on the clock. Olsen made one-of-two again, before Christyn Williams made two foul shots and Villanova's lead was down to four at 71-67 with 26 seconds to go.
Villanova missed four consecutive free throws, but Connecticut was only able to score on one of its possessions to slice the Wildcat advantage to 71-69 with nine seconds to play.
Herlihy was fouled with 2.4 seconds remaining. She made the first, but missed the second. Out of timeouts, Connecticut grabbed the rebound and attempted a pass to mid court, but time expired before the Huskies were able to get off a shot.
Garzon led the Wildcats in the win with 19 points, including five three-point field goals. Siegrist tallied a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Herlihy also posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 caroms, while Olsen recorded 11 points and seven assists.
Connecticut was paced by Fudd with 29 points and Williams who had 24 points.
For the game, Villanova was 29-of-56 from the field (51.8%), 10-of-22 from three (45.5%) and 4-of-12 from the foul line (33.3%), while the Huskies shot 48.2 percent from the floor (27-of-56), 50.0 percent from long distance (10-of-20) and 100.0 percent from the charity stripe (5-of-5). The Wildcats owned a 37-21 advantage on the backboards
Villanova returns to action on Friday, Feb. 11, when the Marquette Golden Eagles visit the Finneran Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
NOTES: Tonight's victory snaps Connecticut's 169 consecutive conference win streak. UConn's last conference loss before tonight came in 2013…Villanova's last win at Connecticut came in a 50-44 win on Jan. 27, 1993…Villanova has now won eight in a row and 13 of its last 14…Villanova improves to 2-1 versus ranked opponents…Maddy Siegrist tallied her 31st career double-double and seventh of the seasons...Head coach Denise Dillon joins Dawn Staley as the only two to beat UConn as both a player and a coach.
