Wednesday was a special day for the women’s basketball team.

Coach Harry Perretta earned his 500th win, on the team’s second attempt at the half-millenia mark, defeating Pitt, 70-49

The ‘Cats were again led by junior Liad Suez, who scored 22 points and a sick four of five from beyond the arc. Betsy McManus put in her usual work(wo)man like effort, with only three points but eight assists, three rebounds and a steal.

The game was never really in doubt, as the women led 35-25 at the half and equaled that margin and another point, 35-24, in the second half. Still the win is important, as the Panthers were 11-8 overall coming in, and could have pulled into a tie with the team both in the Big East, at 4-4, and overall with a win.

Last Saturday the women’s basketball team endured a tough loss to Big East competitor Syracuse. Despite their lead at pivotal points in the game, the Wildcats were unable to come out on top when the buzzer sounded. The final score was 45-42.

Suez gave Villanova a 42-39 lead when she made a jump shot with 5:17 minutes left in regulation. However, this was the final lead and basket for the ‘Cats, as the Orangewomen were able to keep Villanova scoreless in the last five minutes of the game.

In the final minute, they trailed by only one point, but several jump shots fell short. Syracuse secured the win in the game’s final seconds by making two foul shots.

“We struggled offensively for the last five or six minutes,” sophomore Jackie Adamshick said. “We got some good shots but just had trouble finishing when we needed to. We got the stops we needed to put ourselves in a position to win. We just didn’t convert offensively when we needed to.”

Adamshick scored a team-high of 12 points in the game, making it her 11th double-figure-scoring game this year. She is currently leading the team with rebounds (5.9 per game) and is second on the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game.

The play underneath the basket was led by forward Suez and center Jana Rediger. They captured eight rebounds apiece.

Senior guard Jennifer Hilgenberg scored 10 points for the Wildcats, six of which came in the beginning of the second half during a 12-0 Villanova run.

After hitting a three-pointer, Hilgenberg later capitalized on a three-point play to give her team a 40-36 lead.

Villanova’s record is now 12-7 overall and 5-3 in Big East competition. They will face Seton Hall at home this Saturday at 2pm.

Come out and support the team, but especially Coach Perretta, who is only the 26th coach to win 500 games.