VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova could not contain a second half surge from Temple, falling 76-62 in the inaugural Toyota Women's Big Five Classic at the Finneran Pavilion on Friday night.
After holding a four-point lead at the break, Villanova (5-4) was outscored 46-28 in the second half while shooting at a 37.9-percent clip, going 11-of-29 in the final two quarters. Temple shot 55.8-percent on the night compared to a 41.3-percent showing from the 'Cats. Temple's second half scoring was bolstered by 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc in its 6-of-12 night from three-point range with Villanova going just 3-of-20 from long distance.
Jasmine Bascoe led Villanova with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting, tacking on six assists and a season-high seven rebounds.
Maddie Webber and
Lara Edmanson joined her in double-digit scoring, netting 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Bronagh Power-Cassidy also joined Bascoe in leading the team with six assists.
Villanova jumped out to its largest lead of the contest at 9-0 in the first two minutes with baskets from Edmanson and Webber, but Temple cut in with an 8-0 run that was capped by a Tiarra East layup to get within one.
Denae Carter ended that run with back-to-back layups for a 13-8 Blue and White lead at the first media break. Anissa Rivera hit a three on the right wing in the final minute that the 'Cats couldn't answer, making it a 19-16 Villanova advantage through the first.
Bascoe picked up a steal and score to get Villanova going early in the second quarter and later had another fastbreak layup after a pilfer from Power-Cassidy for the team's largest lead in the stanza at 28-22 with just under five minutes to play in the half. Momentum went on the side of the Owls with a 7-0 run that saw them take the lead at 29-28 on a Kaylah Turner jumper with 1:55 to play. Webber halted the run with a pair of jumpers followed by Bascoe hitting a last-second layup to put Villanova up 34-30 at the break.
Villanova shot 44.1-percent in the first half, narrowly edging Temple's 44-percent shooting mark. Webber led all players with 10 points through the opening 20 minutes. Bascoe was behind her with eight points and five rebounds, all on the defensive end. Temple outrebounded Nova in the first half, 20-14.
Temple took control early in the third with an 11-0 run in a three-and-a-half-minute Villanova scoring drought. Tarriyona Gary used a jumper to take the lead with Tristen Taylor following that with a three-pointer to make it a 44-39 lead for the Owls, forcing the Wildcats into a timeout with under five minutes left in the frame. Villanova caught onto a 6-0 run with an exclamation-point steal from
Maddie Burke that led to a Bascoe layup to put Villanova back up by one, 45-44. The Owls went 11-5 down the stretch to hold a 55-50 lead heading into the fourth.
The fourth opened with another Temple-momentum swing as it built its lead out to 11 on three consecutive jumpers from Turner, 61-50. Bascoe and Webber hit a pair of jumpers to get Villanova back within seven, but the Owls distanced themselves with an 11-2 run that included threes from Gary and East to get up by a game-high 16 points with 3:35 to play to put the game away.
Villanova forced 15 Temple turnovers and scored 15 points off of those chances, but Temple scored 21 points off Villanova's 13 giveaways. Four Owls scored in double-figures paced by East's 26-point effort on 10-of-18 shooting.
The Wildcats start a two-game road swing on Sunday as they head to Connecticut to take on Fairfield. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. inside Leo D. Mahoney Arena.
