VILLANOVA, PA. – The Villanova Wildcats had their final preseason tune-up for the 2023-24 season on Wednesday night with a 69-42 win over Jefferson University in an exhibition game at the Finneran Pavilion.
Villanova took control from the opening tap racing to an early 10-2 lead. Junior guard Lucy Olsen led the opening spurt, scoring seven of her team's 10 points. The Wildcats finished the opening quarter by scoring eight unanswered points to lead 18-2 after one.
The Wildcats were 8-of-22 from the field and 2-of-8 from three-point range in the first stanza, while the Rams were 1-of-15 and 0-for-3.
Villanova led 28-8 at the 6:28 mark of the second quarter, when Jefferson scored 11 straight points to cut the Wildcat advantage to 28-19 with 2:18 on the clock. Jefferson forward Sam Yencha led the Ram spurt by scoring the first six points of the run.
Wildcat junior center Christina Dalce ended the Villanova scoreless stretch when she converted a conventional three-point play with 2:04 remaining until halftime. The Dalce and one gave Villanova a 31-19 lead. Each team would score one more bucket in the half and Villanova went to halftime with a 33-21 advantage.
Leading 46-34 with 2:55 to play in the third period, the Wildcats closed the quarter on a 10-0 run to lead 56-34 after three. The 10 points included five points by Olsen, a three-ball by redshirt freshman Abby Jegede and two free throws by Dalce.
Villanova would lead by as many as 28 in the third quarter and cruise to the win.
In the victory, Olsen led the way with 22 points, while Dalce had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Maddie Webber finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
Jefferson was paced by Sam Yencha with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
For the game, Villanova was 25-of-67 from the field (37.3%), 9-of-25 from three-point range (36.0%) and 10-of-15 from the foul line (66.7%), while Jefferson shot 32.7 percent from the floor (18-of-55), 25.0 percent from behind the arc (2-of-8) and 50.0 percent from the charity stripe (4-of-8). The Wildcats owned a 46-38 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova will open the 2023-24 season on Friday, Nov. 10, with a road game at the University of Portland.
