PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Villanova Wildcats traveled to Providence, Rhode Island on Wednesday evening, where they lost in overtime to the Providence College Friars by a score of 82-76. With the loss, Villanova falls to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in BIG EAST play, while Providence improves to 10-11 on the year and 4-4 in conference action.

Wildcat junior guard Zanai Jones led the early charge for Villanova, scoring seven of her team's first 11 points.  Jones would finish with nine first quarter points to help propel the Wildcats to a 24-13 lead after one quarter of play.

Offensive efficiency was the difference in the opening quarter with Villanova connecting 11-of-17 from the field and 1-of-2 from three in the game's first 10 minutes. The Friars were just 3-of-14 and 0-for-2. Foul shooting kept Providence within striking distance, as the Friars were 7-of-8 from the stripe in the opening period.

Leading 30-22 with 4:40 remaining in the second quarter, Villanova closed the half on an 11-4 run to take a 41-26 lead into halftime. Wildcat junior guard Lucy Olsen was dominant in the spurt scoring nine of Villanova's 11 points. The nine points included a deep three, a long two and two jumpers in the lane.

The Wildcats played outstanding first half defense holding Providence to just 22.6 percent shooting on a 7-of-31 effort from the field. Villanova finished the half connecting on 18-of-33 for 54.5 percent. Olsen led the offensive attack for the Cats with 16 first half points.

Providence dominated the third quarter out scoring the Wildcats by a 24-7 margin to erase a 15-point halftime deficit and lead 50-48 after three. The story of the third period was the play of Friar guard Grace Efosa who scored 14 third quarter points on 6-of-8 shooting. 

The Friars shot a sizzling 69.2 percent in the third quarter on 9-of-13 shooting, while Villanova was just 3-of-15 from the field for 20.0 percent.

Villanova started the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 59-52 advantage. Senior Bella Runyan hit back-to-back triples to start the spurt, before freshman Maddie Webber buried a triple of her own. The Friars responded with a 9-3 run to close the gap to 62-61 with 2:59 to play.

After Olsen connected on a jumper in the lane to give the Wildcats a 64-61 lead, the Friars answered on the game's next possession when Marta Morales drained a three to tie the game at 64-64 with 2:26 on the clock.

The Wildcats led 67-65 with 51 seconds remaining when Grace Efosa was fouled. Efosa sank both free throws to tie the game at 67-67. Following a defensive stop by Providence, the Friars took the lead at 69-67 when Morales converted a driving lay-up. Villanova got a good look to tie the game on the next possession, but Webber's jumper would not fall. 

Providence grabbed the rebound and called timeout to advance the ball to the front court with 10 seconds remaining. Villanova then came up with a turnover forcing a back court violation. The Wildcats ran a play from the sideline and got the ball to Runyan who scored on a lay-up with 2.5 seconds to force overtime tied at 69-69.

The Friars started the extra session on a 9-2 run to open-up a 78-71 advantage at the 1:12 mark. A Webber three-ball cut the Providence lead to 80-74 with 36 seconds to play, before the Friars put the game away with two Morales free throws.

For the game, Villanova was 32-of-77 from the field (41.6 percent), 8-of-27 from three (29.6%) and 4-of-6 from the foul line (66.7%), while Providence shot 43.9 percent from the floor (25-of-57), 38.5 percent from long distance (5-of-13) and 67.5 percent from the charity stripe (27-of-40). The Friars owned a 45-36 advantage on the backboards.

In the loss, Webber scored a career-high with 20 points, while Olsen had 18 points with 16 coming in the first half. Jones tied a career-high with 13 points and Runyan was the fourth Wildcat in double figures with 12 points. Dalce added eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds. 

Villanova returns to action on Sunday afternoon with a road game at DePaul. Game time is set for 2 p.m., eastern time and it can be seen live on FS1.
 
NOTES: The 82 points allowed by Villanova tonight was a season-high…Christina Dalce now has 12 double figure rebounding games this year and 24 for her career…The Wildcats fall to 5-5 in road games this year…The Villanova bench out scored the Friar reserves by a 25-3 margin.