Villanova will wrap-up Philadelphia Big 5 pod play on Tuesday with a road game at La Salle. The Wildcats enter play with a 4-2 overall record and 1-0 Big Five mark, while the Explorers are 5-1 on the year and 0-1 in City Series action. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.
With a win over La Salle, Villanova will win Pod 2 of the Big 5 divisional format and advance to the Big 5 championship game at the Big 5 Classic. The Classic is set to be played at the Finneran Pavilion on Sunday, Dec. 7. Game times are noon, 2:15 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.
Villanova and La Salle will be meeting for the 54th time on Tuesday night. The Wildcats have won 15 straight over the Explorers and lead the all-time series by a 44-9 margin.
The Wildcats enter play at La Salle with an all-time Big Five record of 135-43 (.758). The135 wins are the most victories by any Big Five women's program. Villanova is 46-9 (.836) in its last 55 games versus Philadelphia Big Five competition and have won 10 of its last 12 Big 5 contests.
Two Wildcats were honored for their play against Temple last week. Senior guard
Ryanne Allen was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, in addition to earning Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week honors, while freshman guard
Brooke Bender is the Big 5 Rookie of the Week. Allen had a career-high19 points and a career-best six assists against Temple, while Bender had 11 points.
In Saturday's win over Temple, the Villanova defense forced Temple into 19 turnovers that the Wildcats converted into 24 points.
Denae Carter led the defensive effort with five steals, while
Jasmine Bascoe had three steals. By comparison, Villanova had just eight turnovers.
After six games, Villanova is led in scoring by Bascoe who is averaging 16.8 points per game. She also leads the Wildcats in three-point field goals made with 13.
Brynn McCurry leads the team in rebounding at 5.2 per game.
