INDIANAPOLIS – On Monday afternoon in the semifinal round of the WBIT, the Villanova Wildcats season came to a close with a 66-57 loss to the Belmont Bruins. With the loss, the Wildcats end the year at 21-15, while Belmont improves to 25-12.

A high paced opening quarter saw both teams combine to attempt 33 field goals. The Wildcats were 8-of-18 from the field and 4-of-9 from three-point range to lead 20-17 after the game's first 10 minutes.

Villanova had six different players score in the first quarter led by sophomore Maddie Webber who had seven points.
Belmont was 6-of-15 from the floor and 1-of-4 from long distance in the first stanza.

The Bruins dominated the first part of the second quarter, out-scoring the Wildcats by a 9-2 margin over the first 5:25 to take a 26-22 lead. Villanova then closed the quarter on a 9-3 spurt and led 31-29 heading into halftime. Four different Wildcats scored in the run highlighted by a three-ball from junior Ryanne Allen.

With the score tied 40-40 with 4:04 to play in the third quarter, Belmont used an 8-1 run to open-up 48-41 lead. Bruin guard Kendall Holmes was the story of the spurt, as she scored all eight points on a short jumper, a three-ball from straight away and a conventional three-point play.

Belmont would use the run to propel them to a 51-46 lead after three quarters of play.

Villanova trailed 58-50 with 4:39 to play in the fourth quarter, when Wildcat forward Lara Edmanson scored on a short jumper to slice the lead to 58-52. Following two free throws by Belmont guard Jailyn Banks that put the Bruins back up eight at 60-52, Villanova answered with a 10-foot jumper by Webber to make it a 60-54 game.

After a defensive stop, the Wildcats had a chance to cut into the lead, but the Bruins forced a turnover. On the game's next possession, Belmont put the game away when Kendal Cheesman drained a triple to put the Bruins up 63-54 at the 2:33 mark.
In the loss, Webber led the Wildcats with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists, while freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists. Denae Carter recorded six points and eight rebounds, while Maddie Burke pulled-down seven rebounds.

Belmont was paced by Banks who had a game-high 25 points and Holmes who finished with 14 points.

For the game, Villanova was 24-of-70 from the field (34.3%), 6-of-29 from three-point range (20.7%) and 3-of-5 from the foul line (60.0%), while Belmont shot 37.7 percent from the floor (23-of-61), 38.9 percent from long distance (7-of-18) and 68.4 percent from the charity stripe (13-of-19). Villanova owned a 46-37 advantage on the backboards.