VILLANOVA, PA. – In women's basketball action on Wednesday night at the Finneran Pavilion, the Villanova Wildcats rallied for a thrilling 66-63 win over the Marquette Golden Eagles. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 12-5 overall and 5-1 in BIG EAST play, while Marquette falls to 15-3 on the year and 4-3 in league play.

Marquette started the game fast racing to a 7-0 lead that forced an early Villanova timeout. The Wildcats responded by scoring eight of the game's next 10 points to make it a 10-8 contest. Senior Belle Runyan sparked the Villanova spurt scoring five of her team's eight points.

The Golden Eagles shot 50.0 percent from the field in the first period to lead 19-16 after one.
Hot shooting was the theme in the second quarter, as neither team was able to open-up more than a five-point lead. Villanova was 7-of-15 from the floor in the second frame, while Marquette was 7-of-12. 

Following a three-ball by Marquette sophomore Mackenzie Hare with 1:41 to play in the second quarter to increase the Marquette lead to 35-30, Villanova scored the last four points of the half on buckets by freshman Maddie Webber and junior Lucy Olsen to send the teams to halftime with Marquette leading 35-34.

After two Olsen free throws sliced the Marquette advantage to 57-56 with 6:34 remaining in regulation, Marquette used a 6-0 run to take a 63-56 lead. Liza Karlen led the Golden Eagle charge with four of the six points. Karlen's two free throws at the 3:54 mark would be Marquette's last points of the game.

Villanova's decisive 8-0 run to finish the game started with a lay-up by junior Christina Dalce with 3:43 to go. Neither team was able to score for the next 2:04, before Olsen connected on a jumper in the paint to make it a 63-60 game.

The Wildcats came up with a defensive stop on the game's next possession and cut the Marquette advantage to 63-62 on two Olsen free throws with 57 seconds on the clock. After Hare had her lay-up blocked, Olsen grabbed the defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the court where she converted a driving lay-up to give Villanova its first lead of the game at 64-63 with 29 seconds remaining.

Marquette had two chances to take the lead on its next possession, but Karlen and Jordan King both misfired on their attempts. Olsen then gave the Wildcats a 66-63 lead on two foul shots with 12 seconds to play.

The Golden Eagles took a timeout and advanced the ball to the frontcourt looking for a game-tying three. Marquette got off three triple attempts over the final 10 seconds with Dalce blocking two of the three. Karlen desperation three as time expired hit the back rim.

In the win, Olsen was sensational with a game-high 37 points. She was 12-of-19 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range and 11-of-13 from the foul line. Runyan finished with 11 points, while Dalce had a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards.

Marquette was paced by Hare with 21 points, including a 5-of-10 effort from three-point range. Karlen registered 16 points and King had 13.

For the game, Villanova was 23-of-53 from the field (43.4%), 6-of-18 from three-point range (33.3%) and 14-of-17 from the foul line (82.4%), while Marquette shot 44.6 percent from the floor (25-of-56), 41.2 percent from long distance (7-of-17) and 100.0 percent from the charity stripe (6-of-6). Marquette owned a 32-28 advantage on the backboards.

The Wildcats return home on Sunday to take on nationally ranked Creighton. Game time is set for noon and can be seen live on the CBS Sports Network.

NOTES: Villanova has won five in a row over Marquette…The Wildcats improve to 7-1 at home this season…Lucy Olsen moved past Karen Hargadon, Laura Kurz, Maria Getty, Courtney Mix and Karen Hiznay and into 21^st place on Villanova's all-time scoring list with 1,091 points…Lucy Olsen now has five 30-point games this season…Tonight was the seventh double-double of the year for Christina Dalce…Villanova led for just 30 seconds of tonight's game.