Villanova’s women’s basketball team kicked off their exhibition season this week at Jake Nevin Field House, dropping a hotly-contested, triple overtime game to the Netherlands National Team, 90-79.

Villanova jumped out to a big lead early, but was unable to hold it late. The Wildcats opened up on an 11-2 run in the first four minutes of the game, thanks to the shooting of junior Liad Suez. Villanova extended that lead to 21-9 about halfway through the first half. Going into halftime, Villanova held a 35-24 advantage.

The second half was a different story, as the Netherlands was able to chip away at the Wildcat lead and eventually come all the way back to tie it. Irene Sloof’s three pointer pulled the Netherlands National Team to within one point with 4:09 minutes left in the half, and they finally pulled even with 38 seconds remaining in the half on a Marloes Roetgerink lay-up.

Both teams stayed in a dead heat through the first overtime, and ended up tied at 67 at the conclusion of the period. Villanova jumped out of the gate quickly in the second OT, going on top 73-68 after a Jana Rediger free throw with 2:09 left in the period.

But the Netherlands battled back. Marloes Roetgerink struck again, sinking a layup with three seconds left in double overtime to knot the score up at 73-73.

Villanova held the lead with 4:24 left in triple OT, after sophomore Jackie Adamshick hit a three pointer, but the Netherlands National Team went on a 14-3 tear to finish off the Wildcats by a final of 90-79.

The Wildcats, despite the loss, had some very impressive individual efforts. Suez, a native of Israel, led all Villanova scorers with 18 points. Adamshick, meanwhile, finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points while pulling down 12 boards.

In the end, the Netherlands National Team was too much for the ‘Cats to handle in the first exhibition game of the season. Roetgerink led all scorers in the game with 23 points, including the buckets to send the game into overtime and to tie the game at the end of double overtime.

The women, who finished fifth in the Big East Conference Preseaon Poll last week, resume their game schedule on Nov. 21, with a match-up against Penn State University at the Pavilion.