WASHINGTON, DC – In women's basketball action on Tuesday evening, the Villanova Wildcats traveled to Washington, D.C., where they registered a 73-61 win over the Georgetown Hoyas. With the victory, Villanova improves to 19-7 overall and 13-4 in BIG EAST play, while the Hoyas fall to 7-18 overall and 2-15 in conference action.
Georgetown gave a strong defensive effort in the first half, holding Villanova to 9-of-33 shooting and forcing 10 Wildcat turnovers. The Hoyas converted the 10 Wildcat miscues into 10 points.
The Hoyas would use their strong first half performance to lead 31-27 at intermission.
Villanova came out hitting on all cylinders and started the third quarter on a 23-6 run to take a 47-37 lead at the 2:46 mark. Junior forward Maddy Siegrist was sensational in the spurt scoring 15 of the 23 points, including three field goals from behind the arc. Sophomore Bella Runyan added two trifectas in the run.
Siegrist scored 18 third quarter points to help the Wildcats lead 55-46 after three. Siegrist was 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-5 from three and 2-of-2 from the foul line in the quarter.
After Georgetown's Graceann Bennett scored on a short jumper in the paint for the first points of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats scored eight of the game's next 10 points to take a 63-50 advantage. The eight points included short jumpers by Brianna Herlihy and Lucy Olsen and two free throws each by Lior Garzon and Kaitlyn Orihel.
Georgetown's Mary Clougherty drained a deep three with 5:26 to play that pulled the Hoyas within 11 at 65-54. With the Hoyas applying pressure defense all over the court, Siegrist got free and was fouled on a drive to the bucket. Siegrist sank both free throws and the Wildcats held a 67-54 lead with 4:59 remaining.
Following the Siegrist foul shots, neither team was able to score for the next 3:43. Herlihy broke the scoreless stretch and buried a three from straightaway to put the game away at 70-54 with 2:16 left.
In the win, Siegrist registered her 10th double-double of the season with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Olsen finished with 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Garzon added 12 points and five rebounds.
The Hoyas were paced by Jillian Archer with 18 points. She was the lone Georgetown player in double figures.
For the game, Villanova was 22-of-58 from the field (37.9%), 11-of-22 from three (50.0%) and
18-of-20 from the foul line (80.0%), while the Hoyas shot 37.7 percent from the floor (20-of-53), 28.6 percent from behind the arc (4-of-14) and 68.0 percent from the charity stripe (17-of-25). Villanova owned a 41-33 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova returns to action on Friday, Feb. 25, when the Wildcats travel to Indianapolis to take on the Butler Bulldogs. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
NOTES: Villanova is 16-4 versus Georgetown over the last 20 meetings between the two teams…The Wildcats improve to 8-5 on the road with tonight's win…Lior Garzon has scored double figures in 19 of 25 games this season…Maddy Siegrist moved past Lisa Ortlip and into fourth on Villanova's all-time scoring list with 1,657 career points.
