VILLANOVA, PA. – In women's basketball action on Wednesday evening, the Villanova Wildcats ran their win streak to four in a row with a 71-64 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas. With the win, Villanova improves to 13-3 overall and 4-1 in BIG EAST play, while Georgetown falls to 8-7 on the year and 1-5 in league play.
After a fast-paced offensive first half, Villanova went to intermission with a 37-35 lead. The Hoyas were 15-of-30 from the field, while the Wildcats were 12-of-31 overall and 5-of-10 from three-point range in the opening half. Georgetown was dominant in the paint in first two quarters scoring 22 of its 35 points inside.
Villanova senior forward Maddy Siegrist and Georgetown freshman Kennedy Fauntleroy were dominant in the first half for their respective teams with each scoring 15 points. Siegrist was just 3-of-8 from the field, but she was 1-of-2 from downtown and 8-of-8 from the foul line. Fauntleroy was 6-of-8 from the field, 1-of-2 from behind the arc and 2-of-3 from the charity stripe.
The Wildcats led 50-45 with 3:56 remaining in the third quarter, when they used an 11-2 run to open-up a 61-47 advantage at the 1:47 mark. Siegrist and junior Maddie Burke led the Wildcat spurt as they combined to score all 11 of the points. After Siegrist had an old fashioned three-point play and a 10-foot jumper, Burke buried back-to-back triples.
Georgetown answered the Villanova run by scoring the final six points of the quarter to cut the Wildcat advantage to 61-53 after three.
Villanova went ice cold from an offensive standpoint in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats missed their first seven shots of the quarter and turned the ball over three times and went scoreless for the first 8:10.
Back-to-back buckets by Fauntleroy pulled the Hoyas within one at 61-60 with 4:56 to play. Following a 3:06 stretch where neither team scored, Siegrist ended the Wildcat scoring drought when she connected on a driving lay-up to give her team a 63-60 lead with 1:50 to play. Wildcat junior guard Bella Runyan then came up with a steal and Villanova turned the Hoya miscue into points when sophomore guard Lucy Olsen made a short jumper to increase the Villanova advantage to 65-60.
Two Siegrist free throws gave the Wildcats a 67-60 lead, before Georgetown's Brianna Scott drained a deep three to make it a 67-63 game with 26 seconds left. Siegrist would put the game away by going four-of-four from the line in the last 23 seconds to seal the win.
In the victory, Siegrist had a game-high 29 points and a game-best 10 rebounds. She was 6-of-14 from the floor, 1-of-2 from three and 16-of-17 from the foul line. Olsen finished with 13 points, while Burke added 11.
Georgetown was paced by Fauntleroy with 24 points and Kelsey Ransom who had 12.
For the game, Villanova was 21-of-57 from the field (36.8%), 10-of-20 from three-point range (50.0%) and 19-of-22 from the foul line (86.4%), while Georgetown shot 44.4 percent from the floor (24-of-54), 50.0 percent from long distance (3-of-6) and 59.1 percent from the stripe (13-of-22).
Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 8, when the Butler Bulldogs visit the Finneran Pavilion. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
NOTES: Maddy Siegrist broke Helen Perretta's 33-year school record of 367 career free throws. Siegrist now has 371 made foul shots to her credit…Siegrist tied Helen Perretta's school mark for free throws in a game with 16…Siegrist now has eight double-doubles this year and 45 for her career…Villanova has won 17-of-the last 21 versus Georgetown and leads the all-time series by a 48-24 count…The Wildcats have won 15 of the last 16 games played at the Finneran Pavilion…Lucy Olsen has reached double figures in 11 of the 16 games this season.
