On Sunday, the Villanova women’s basketball team traveled to Milwaukee, beating Marquette 58-55 to improve to 9-6 on the season. 

The top scorer for the Wildcats was junior forward Maddy Siegrist, who finished with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists. Right behind Siegrist was sophomore forward Lior Garzon, who recorded her second straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. 

In addition, sophomore guard Bella Runyan also made an impact by adding six points and playing a career-high 35 minutes in the game. Freshman guard Kaitlyn Orihel proved to be a good new addition to the team with a career-high of 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field.

The Wildcats and Golden Eagles went back and forth throughout the whole game with each quarter ending in a tight score. 

Throughout the first half of the game, neither team made any leeway over the other. After the first quarter, the Golden Eagles held a 15-14 lead and maintained that advantage, entering halftime ahead 31-30.  

The same trend continued throughout the second half, but the Wildcats were able to turn the tables and get the slight lead over the Golden Eagles. 

After ending the third quarter with the lead of 44-42, the Wildcats worked hard to maintain their lead in the fourth with many players making key plays during this time. Leading 46-44 with 8:15 left in the game, junior guard Brooke Mullin showed her skills with a step back jumper to further strengthen the lead for the Wildcats. 

From there, both teams struggled with turnovers until Siegrist was able to break the streak by draining a three-pointer, followed by a turnaround jumper in the lane to expand the Wildcat lead to 54-44 with 6:53 remaining. 

The Golden Eagles were unable to score during a four-minute drought in this quarter, only ending this drought when sophomore guard Danyel Middleton made a driving layup with 4:54 remaining. The Golden Eagles diminished the lead with a 9-0 run, making it 54-53. 

During this 9-0 run, the Golden Eagles had a chance to tie the game with 53 seconds remaining in the game, but sophomore forward Liza Karlen only made one of her two free throws, allowing the Wildcats to keep a 54-53 lead. 

To help secure their lead, the Wildcats gave the ball to leading scorer Siegrist, and Siegrist drained a 15-foot jumper with 29 seconds left to extend the Wildcats lead to 56-53. 

13 seconds into the Golden Eagles’ possession, the Wildcats were able to get a defensive stop and Garzon was fouled. She drained one of her free throws, making it a two possession game with 17 seconds remaining.  

The Golden Eagles subsequent timeout proved beneficial, as they were able to score on a driving layup from junior guard Jordan King to cut Villanova’s lead to 57-55 with 10 seconds left. 

When the Wildcats inbounded the ball to Siegrist, she was immediately fouled and sent to the line where she went 1-of-2. 

With 10 seconds left, and the Golden Eagles out of time outs, King made an attempt at a last-second three-pointer to tie the game, but it was off the mark as time expired. 

Villanova returns home to the Finneran Pavilion on Friday, Jan. 21 to face Providence College. The first time the Wildcats and Friars faced off this season, Villanova was defeated 47-66. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.