WASHINGTON, DC – The Villanova Wildcats opened-up BIG EAST Conference on Thursday night with a 76-69 road win at Georgetown. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in league play, while Georgetown falls to 5-3 on the season and 0-1 in conference action.
Villanova led 32-27 early in the third quarter, when the Wildcats went on an 11-2 run to take a 43-29 advantage with 6:38 remaining. Sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe was dominant in the spurt, scoring nine of her team's 11 points.
The Wildcats would lead by double figures the rest of the quarter, with the advantage getting as high as 15 at 52-37 with 1:23 on the clock. After junior forward Brynn McCurry gave Villanova a 54-40 lead with 53 seconds to play in the period, the Hoyas scored the final four points of the quarter to make it a 54-44 game.
Following a three-ball by Georgetown guard Khadee Hession cut the Villanova lead to 54-47, the Wildcats scored six consecutive points to grab a 60-47 lead with 8:15 on the clock. McCurry had a 15-foot jumper and two free throws and Denae Carter scored on a lay-up for the six Villanova points.
Georgetown made one last run and cut the Villanova lead to 63-55 on free throws by Victoria Rivera. With momentum on the Hoyas side, Villanova put the game away on a jump shot by McCurry and a three-ball by Kennedy Henry. The Henry triple gave the Wildcats a 68-55 advantage at the 4:37 mark.
Bascoe led all scorers in the game with 26 points, while McCurry had her second straight 20-point game with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
Georgetown had three different players score 12 points, including Laila Jewett, Khia Miller and Summer Davis.
For the game, Villanova was 28-of-61 from the field (45.9%), 6-of-21 from three-point range (28.6%) and 14-of-18 from the free throw line (77.8%), while Georgetown shot 34.8 percent from the floor (23-of-66), 25.0 percent from behind the arc (4-of-16) and 70.4 percent from the charity stripe (19-of-27).
Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 7, when the Wildcats will host Saint Joseph's in the BIG 5 championship game. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m.
