UNCASVILLE, Conn. – In the quarterfinal round of the BIG EAST Tournament on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena, the No. 2 seed Villanova Wildcats tallied a 73-65 win over the No. 7 seed Providence College Friars. With the victory, Villanova improves to 24-6, while Providence falls to 15-18.
The Wildcats will play the winner of the Seton Hall/St. John's game on Sunday evening in the semifinal round.
Villanova scored seven of the first nine points of the second quarter to take a 30-18 advantage. Senior forward
Denae Carter scored four of the seven points, while sophomore guard
Jasmine Bascoe buried a three-ball.
Providence responded to the early Wildcat surge with a 17-2 run to take a 35-32 lead with 2:49 remaining in the opening half. Orlagh Gormley was sensational in the spurt connecting on three triples.
The Wildcats finished off the second quarter scoring by tallying the final six points of the half on a triple by freshman guard
Kennedy Henry and a conventional three-point play by
Ryanne Allen to take a 38-35 lead at intermission.
Villanova led 46-45 midway through the third quarter, when the Wildcats finished the period on a 12-2 run to take a 58-47 advantage after three. Bascoe and Allen hit back-to-back threes to start the spurt.
The Wildcats stayed hot to start the fourth quarter, as Villanova scored the first seven points on a three by Bascoe, a lay-up by Henry and a short jumper by Carter. The 7-0 spurt gave Villanova a commanding 65-47 lead.
Providence made one last run and scored seven unanswered points to slice the Villanova advantage to 69-60 with 3:07 remaining. Henry ended the Wildcat scoreless stretch with an offensive rebound put back. The Henry bucket gave her team a 71-60 lead at the 2:35 mark.
Following the Henry basket, the Friars would not get within eight the rest of the way.
Bascoe led the Wildcats in the win with a game-high 31 points, while Henry had a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Carter added 10 points and six rebounds.
Providence was paced by Sabou Gueye and Gormley who had 19 points each.
For the game, Villanova was 29-of-58 from the field (50.0%), 9-of-22 from three-point range (40.9%) and 6-of-7 from the foul line (85.75), while Providence shot 40.7 percent from the floor (24-of-59), 26.7 percent from long distance (4-of-15) and 65.0 percent from the charity stripe (13-of-20). The Friars owned a 35-32 advantage on the backboards.
