VILLANOVA, PA – On Sunday afternoon at the Finneran Pavilion, the No. 7 Connecticut Huskies came to town and tallied an 83-52 victory over the Villanova Wildcats. With the win, Connecticut improves to 13-2 overall and 4-0 in BIG EAST play, while Villanova falls to 7-8 on the year and 1-2 in league action.
Connecticut was outstanding on the offensive end of the floor in the opening quarter, shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range. The Huskies used the efficient offensive start to lead 23-15 after one quarter of play.
Freshman forward Sarah Strong led the way for Connecticut in the early going with 10 first quarter points. Senior forward Denae Carter tallied six first quarter points for the Wildcats.
The Huskies started the second quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 35-18 lead midway through the period. Ashlynn Shade hit back-to-back threes to start the spurt, before Strong scored on two short jumpers.
The early second quarter spurt would propel Connecticut to a 43-24 lead at halftime. Strong was sensational in the first half for the Huskies with 17 points.
Villanova came out of the locker room after halftime and scored eight of the first 12 points of the half to slice the Connecticut lead to 45-32. The eight Wildcat points included a three ball and pull-up jumper by sophomore guard Maddie Webber and a triple by freshman point guard Jasmine Bascoe.
Following the opening run by the Wildcats, the Huskies finished the quarter on a 21-5 run to take a commanding 66-37 lead after three.
The Huskies would lead by as many as 39 in the fourth quarter and cruise to the win.
In the loss, Bascoe led Villanova with 12 points, while Carter had 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Maddie Burke connected on three triples for nine points.
Connecticut was paced by Strong with a game-high 21 points. Paige Bueckers and KK Arnold added 15 points each.
For the game, Villanova was 20-of-60 from the field (33.3%), 9-of-26 from three-point range (34.6%) and 3-of-4 from the foul line (75.0%), while the Huskies shot 59.3 percent from the floor (35-of-59), 40.0 percent from long distance (8-of-20) and 71.4 percent from the foul line (5-of-7). The Huskies owned a 36-30 advantage on the backboards.
Villanova will hit the road on Wednesday and travel to Washington, D.C., to take on the Georgetown Hoyas. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
