PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In women's basketball action on Sunday afternoon, the Villanova Wildcats traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, where they suffered a 63-56 loss to the Providence College Friars. With the setback, the Wildcats fall to 16-12 overall and 10-6 in BIG EAST play, while Providence improves to 12-18 on the year and 5-12 in league action.
Providence used the emotion of Senior Day and started fast racing to an early 10-3 lead. Offensive efficiency was the difference in the first quarter, as Providence was 7-of-15 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range in the game's first 10 minutes. Villanova was 4-of-16 and 3-of-7.
Grad student guard
Maddie Burke led the Wildcats in the first quarter, scoring eight of Villanova's 11 points on two three-point field goals and a 15-foot jumper. Providence got an early lift from Emily Archibald who had nine points.
Villanova started the second quarter on a 9-3 run to cut the Friar lead to 21-20. Sophomore guard
Maddie Webber led the charge with four of the nine points, while freshman guard
Jasmine Bascoe drained a triple and junior forward
Denae Carter connected on a lay-up.
The Wildcat defense was outstanding in the second quarter, holding Providence to seven points in the period on 3-of-12 shooting. Villanova used the defensive effort to erase a seven-point deficit and lead 26-25 at halftime.
Providence scored 12 of the first 17 points of the third quarter to take a 37-31 lead. With all the momentum on the Providence side, the Wildcats responded and scored 10 points over the last 4:01 of the period to cut the Friar lead to 42-41 after three quarters of play.
After a
Kaitlyn Orihel lay-up sliced the Providence lead to 51-50 with 5:33 to play, Providence went on a decisive 7-1 spurt to take a 57-52 advantage at the 3:25 mark. Forward Olivia Olsen was dominant in the run scoring six of the seven Friar points, including three straight made field goals.
With the score still at 57-52 with 1:48 remaining, Providence was called for an intentional foul that sent Orihel to the foul line for two shots and would give Villanova possession of the ball. Following the Orihel free throws that made it a 57-54 game, Webber's 15-foot jumper would not fall.
Villanova then forced two straight turnovers and had three chances to tie or make it a one-point game, but the Wildcats misfired on all three opportunities. Providence put the game away on a lay-up by Grace Efosa off the press break and four free throws in the last 18 seconds by Brynn Farrell.
In the loss, Webber led the Wildcats with 17 points, while Burke added 13 points. Orihel chipped in with seven points off the bench.
Providence was paced by Olsen who had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Farrell finished with 17 points, while Archibald had 12 points.
For the game, Villanova was 21-of-61 from the field (34.4%), 8-of-29 from three-point range (27.6%) and 6-of-6 from the foul line (100,0%), while the Friars shot 41.2 percent from the floor (21-of-51), 31.3 percent from long distance (5-of-16) and 69.6 percent from the charity stripe (16-of-23). Providence dominated the backboards, outrebounding the Wildcats by a 47-24 margin.
The Wildcats will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 26, when the Butler Bulldogs visit the Finneran Pavilion on Senior Night. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
