PHILADELPHIA – In women's Big 5 action on Tuesday evening, the Villanova Wildcats traveled to Philadelphia where they tallied a 66-54 win over the La Salle Explorers. With the victory, Villanova improves to 5-2 on the year and 2-0 in Big 5 play, while La Salle falls to 5-2 overall and 0-2 in City Series action.
With tonight's win, Villanova will play in the championship game of the Big 5 Women's Classic on Sunday, Dec. 7, at 4:30 p.m. The Wildcats will take on the winner of Saturday's game between Saint Joseph's and Drexel.
The Wildcats held La Salle to just 2-of-13 shooting from the field and forced six Explorer turnovers in the first quarter. The strong defense helped Villanova to an 18-6 lead after the game's first 10 minutes.
After an Ashleigh Connor turn around jumper pulled La Salle to within 26-18 midway through the second quarter, the Wildcats used a 10-3 run to close the half and lead 36-21 at intermission Junior forward Brynn McCurry led the spurt scoring eight of Villanova's 10 points in the run.
Villanova led 48-36 after three quarters of play, before the Explorers started the fourth period on a 7-0 run to slice the lead to 48-43. Connor had five of the Explorer seven points on a conventional three-point play and two free throws.
With momentum on the Explorers side, Villanova went on a 9-0 run to regain control of the game and lead 57-43 at the 5:09 mark. Wildcat forward Denae Carter started the spurt scoring five straight points, before Ryanne Allen and Kennedy Henry added two free throws apiece.
Following the decisive run, La Salle would not get within single digits the rest of the way.
McCurry led the way in the win with a career-high tying 18 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Jasmine Bascoe tallied 16 points, while Henry added 11 points. Carter finished with nine points and six rebounds.
La Salle was paced by Connor with 17 points and Kiara Williams who had 14 points.
In the win, Villanova was 21-of-57 from the field (36.8%), 6-of-25 from three-point range (24.0%) and 18-of-24 from the foul line (75.0%), while La Salle shot 38.9 percent from the floor (21-of-54), 14.3 percent from long distance (2-of-14) and 58.8 percent from the charity stripe (10-of-17).
The Wildcats will return to action on Monday, Dec. 1, with a road game at West Virginia. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
