The women’s basketball team ended its Thanksgiving break with a record of 3-3. Defeating Fairfield and Marist on the road before entering the FIU tournament. In the tournament, the Wildcats lost to Tulane and then beat North Florida.

At Fairfield, the Wildcats started the first half with a 10-2 run and never allowed Fairfield to come back. They maintained their lead of at least seven points throughout the second half, recording their first win of the season with a final score 51-37.

Sophomores Lisa Karcic and Siobhan O’Connor both had career-high games with 16 points each, and senior Jackie Adamshick finished the game with eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

“In the Fairfield game, we started playing better defense and getting stops when we needed them,” Adamshick said. “That seems to be the key for our team, to win games defensively rather than winning on the offensive end.”

The Wildcats returned home to face the Marist Red Foxes and recorded a victory in overtime as Adamshick scored 25 points with 10 rebounds. In the first half, the Wildcats were able to establish an early lead, going into the second half leading 28-20.

With the ‘Cats ahead by 14 in the second half, Marist made a comeback with an 11-1 run with three minutes left in the game. The Red Foxes were never able to take the lead in regulation, but pulled ahead of Villanova in the extra period.

Only leading by two, Marist was unable to hold onto its lead as the Wildcats came back with a 7-0 run after Adamshick and red-shirt freshman Maria Getty each made two free throws, and Karcic hit a 3-pointer during the run.

O’Connor and red-shirt freshman Tia Grant each scored 11 points, resulting in a final score of 69-64.

“We had a solid lead most of the game,” Adamshick said. “But then we made a few mistakes on offense and missed a few shots which led to easy shots for them and allowed them to get back into the game. We kept our poise, though, down the stretch and in the overtime period. We went back to doing the things that we were successful with earlier in the game: getting stops on defense and being patient and taking good shots on offense.”

The team spent Thanksgiving break in Florida at the FIU Classic where they faced Tulane in the first round. Adamshick led the Wildcats with 14 points and 10 rebounds to record her second double-double of the season. Karcic again reached double figures along with Getty. They each scored 11 points.

In the first four minutes, Tulane ran out to a 10-0 lead, but the Wildcats answered their run with a run of their own, pulling to within one point after six minutes of the game. With the score now 10-9, sophomore Briana Weiss scored all eight of her points in the first half to keep Villanova close with Tulane. However, Tulane was able to pull away from the Wildcats again to end the half 39-29.

In the second half, the Wildcats were unable to get within four points of Tulane. The final score was 72-60.

“We let the game become more of an offensive game, instead of playing tough defense and making them work for every basket,” Adamshick said. “We got too caught up in their style of play and didn’t play smart at critical times. Also, we got off to a bad start which made the whole game an uphill battle for us, and it seemed like every time we cut into the lead, they would answer and we could never quite get over that hump.”

The Wildcats were able to end their Thanksgiving break with a win against North Florida to pull their record to 3-3. Never falling behind during the contest, Adamshick registered yet another double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds and was honored with a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

The Wildcats led the first half 28-10 with only 6:32 left in the half. Adamshick started the 14-point run with a jump shot followed by a 3-point play. O’Connor and Weiss later combined to make three straight 3-pointers. Weiss scored a career-high 12 points.

In the second half, the Wildcats led by 28 points and Karcic registered a double-double with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Villanova ended regulation play against North Florida with a 66-47 win.

“Because this year’s team is so young, we need to focus on improving every day, whether it’s in a game or just practice,” Adamshick said. “We need to work on communicating better on defense and maintaining our focus and concentration for 40 minutes.”