VILLANOVA, Pa. – After leading by as many as 16 points, Villanova was able to withstand a fourth-quarter University of Pennsylvania surge on Tuesday night, holding on for a 68-62 win at Finneran Pavilion.
 
Villanova (6-2) was led by a career day from Christina Dalce. The junior forward scored 18 points with seven made field goals – both career highs – adding 17 rebounds, 3 blocks, an assist and a steal. She has scored double-figures in three of the last four games, each of those being double-doubles. Maddie Webber and Lucy Olsen joined Dalce in double-digits, scoring 16 and 14, respectively.
 
While the first half saw Penn (5-4) stay within reach of the 'Cats, the Quakers made the most of late Blue and White scoring droughts to get within three in the final minute of play. Jordan Obi ended up leading Penn with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, adding 10 rebounds and a trio of assists.
 
Villanova scored all five of the game's opening points at the foul line thanks to Dalce and Olsen. The 'Cats grabbed their largest lead of the first quarter with a five-point spurt from Zanai Jones, draining a straight-on three and a steal and score on a fast break layup to make it a 14-4 Villanova lead with 5:35 to play in the frame. Dalce was the driving force for Villanova in the first, scoring eight points to lead all scorers to help Nova to a 20-14 lead through the opening stanza.
 
Penn used a 6-0 run spanning the first and second periods to get within two in the first two minutes of the second quarter. Mataya Gayle led the charge for the Quakers in the period, scoring 14 of the team's 16 points to make it a 37-30 Villanova lead at the break.
 
By halftime, Dalce had already recorded the seventh double-double of her career, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 boards. She went 5-for-5 from the field in the first 20 minutes and was 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
 
The 'Cats opened the second half with a 9-0 run to jump out to a 16-point 46-34 run that was capped by a Maddie Webber pull-up jumper with 6:23 to play in the frame. That run lasted until Jordan Obi netted a layup that started a back-to-back sequence of baskets for the Quakers. Timely baskets from Olsen and Dalce down the stretch in the frame put Villanova up 55-43 heading to the fourth.
 
Penn got within seven during a two-minute scoring drought for the 'Cats, all seven of those points coming from Obi to make it 57-50 with 6:07 to play. After a pair of layups from Ese Ogbevire and Obi made it a three-point game at 65-62 in the last half minute, Webber put the game away on three field goals in the final 20 seconds.
 
Villanova heads back on the road for another Big Five matchup as it heads to Saint Joseph's on Saturday. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. from Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena.
 
NOTES: Tuesday marked the 50^th overall meeting between the 'Cats and Quakers with the series moving to 47-3 in favor of Villanova … Christina Dalce's 18-point day bests her previous career-high of 13, a number she had recorded six times heading into Tuesday … She also played in a career-high 38 minutes of action and logged the seventh double-double of her career … Maddie Webber's 16-point day marks the third double-digit scoring outing of the season … The Wildcats are now 4-0 at home on the year.