SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – in the 2025-26 regular season finale, the Villanova Wildcats traveled to Seton Hall where they tallied an 82-52 win over the Pirates. With the victory, Villanova improves to 23-6 overall and 16-4 in BIG EAST play, while Seton Hall falls to 18-10 on the year and 12-7 in league action.
Villanova will be the two-seed in next weekend's BIG EAST Tournament. The Wildcats will play in the quarterfinal round on Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m.
Leading 28-19 with 8:06 remaining in the second quarter, Villanova out scored the Pirates by a 14-3 margin the remainder of the period to take a commanding 42-22 lead into halftime. Sophomore guard
Jasmine Bascoe was dominant in the spurt scoring nine straight points at one point on two driving lay-ups, a three-ball and two free throws. The other five points included a three-point field goal by
Kelsey Joens and a lay-up by
Denae Carter.
Villanova was 17-of-37 from the field in the first half (45.9%), including a 6-of-20 effort from three-point range, while the Pirates committed eight second quarter turnovers and were just 1-of-7 from the floor.
After a Savannah Catalon basket cut the Villanova lead to 50-31 with 4:40 to play in the third quarter, the Wildcats scored eight of the game's next 10 points to increase the lead to 62-35. Villanova got three-point field goals from Bascoe and
Ryanne Allen in the stretch and four points by
Kylee Watson.
Seton Hall would not get within 21 in the fourth quarter and the Wildcats cruised to the win.
Bascoe led all scorers in the victory with 28 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds, while Carter added 13 points. Freshman
Brooke Bender had three triples for nine points and junior center
Brynn McCurry had eight points and eight rebounds.
Seton Hall was paced by Zahara Bishop with 19 points.
For the game, Villanova was 29-of-62 from the field (46.8%), 12-of-32 from three-point range (37.5%) and 12-of-12 from the foul line, while Seton Hall shot 36.0 percent from the floor (18-of-50), 23.5 percent from long distance (4-of-17) and 75.0 percent from the charity stripe (12-of-16).
