VILLANOVA, PA. – In a game between Top 15 teams on Saturday afternoon at the Finneran Pavilion, the No. 6 Connecticut Huskies tallied a 60-51 win over the No. 14 Villanova Wildcats. With the loss, Villanova falls to 23-5 overall and 14-3 in BIG EAST play, while the Huskies improve to 24-4 on the year and 16-1 in league play.
The game was the second sellout in Villanova women's basketball history. The first came in a 59-56 win over Connecticut on Feb. 28, 2004.
After a first half defensive battle, Connecticut went to intermission with a 28-26 lead. Neither team was able to get much going in the game's first 20 minutes. Villanova was 10-of-29 from the field and 3-of-13 from three-point range in the first half, while Connecticut was 12-of-28 from the floor and 2-of-7 from long distance.
Connecticut led 36-35 with 3:09 to play in the third quarter, when the Huskies scored four straight points on a lay-up by Caroline Ducharme and two free throws by Lou Lopez Senechal to open-up a 40-35 advantage. Following a jumper by Villanova star Maddy Siegrist that made it a 42-39 game, Connecticut closed out the third quarter scoring on a Ducharme field goal and the Huskies led 44-39 after three.
The Huskies started the fourth quarter on an 8-1 run to take the biggest lead of the game at 52-40 with 7:43 remaining. With their backs against the wall, Villanova ran off 10 straight points to cut the Connecticut lead to 52-50 at the 3:56 mark. The spurt included five points by sophomore guard Lucy Olsen, a triple by Siegrist and a driving lay-up by junior Bella Runyan.
On Connecticut's next possession, the Huskies got the ball to Dorka Juhasz who was fouled on a drive to the basket. Juhasz missed both free throws, but Husky forward Aubrey Griffin came up with the offensive rebound. Connecticut took advantage of the extra possession when Aaliyah Edwards connected on a lay-up to give her team a 54-50 lead with 3:06 to play.
After each team failed to scored on its next possession, Siegrist made one-of-two from the line to slice the lead to 54-51 with 1:25 on the clock. The Wildcats played outstanding defense on the next possession, but Connecticut guard Lou Lopez Senechal made a tough shot as the shot clock was winding down. The bucket gave the Huskies a 56-51 advantage.
Villanova had two chances to make it a one possession game again on the next trip down the court. However, Siegrist missed a 15-foot jumper and Olsen missed two free throws. The Wildcats were forced to foul Lopez Senechal who made both free throws to give the Huskies a 58-51 lead with 46 seconds to go.
In the loss, Siegrist led Villanova with 21 points. Olsen finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four steals, while Runyan had nine points and three steals.
Connecticut was paced by Lopez Senechal with 22 points and Juhasz wo had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Edwards added 13 points and 14 rebounds.
For the game, Villanova was 20-of-60 from the field (33.3%), 5-of-25 from three-point range (20.0%) and 6-of-12 from the foul line (50.0%), while Connecticut shot 42.6 percent from the floor (20-of-47), 30.0 percent from behind the arc (3-of-10) and 65.4 percent from the charity stripe (17-of-26). The Huskies owned a 47-25 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 21, when the DePaul Blue Demons visit the Finneran Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
NOTES: Villanova falls to 9-2 at home this season…Maddy Siegrist has scored 20 or more points in all 28 games this year…Siegrist has 79 games of 20 points or more in her career…Villanova has made at least one three-point field goal in 609 straight games…Today was the 19th double figure scoring game of the year for Lucy Olsen…With nine turnovers today, the Wildcats have single digit turnovers in four of the last six games.
