Villanova finished off a gap filled January today by beating Butler 90-53 in what was a very dominant offensive performance by the Wildcats. 

Maddy Siegrest led the Villanova squad with 26 points and 10 rebounds, which made it her eighth double-double of the season and her 6th time making it to 25 points. She also added three blocks, two assists, and a steal to her great game. Lior Garzon added a season best of 19 points off the bench and Brianna Herlihy also contributed 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Raven James added 6 assists. Villanova was able to highlight their depth on the court today and accumulated 41 points total off the bench today. 

Villanova started off strong scoring 30 points in the first quarter and going into the second quarter with a 19 point lead. It was the 7th time since they started the four-quarter format that Villanova made it to 30 points in a quarter. The points and margin are the highest for Villanova in a quarter in six seasons. Siegrest, Herlihy, and Garzon combined for 25 of those thirty points. The ‘Cats posted a very strong three-point shot going 14-33. Eight different players made a three pointer in this game. Villanova shot over 50 percent from the field and 90 percent from the free throw line.

The Wildcats slowed down in the second quarter only scoring 15 total points, but a strong defensive effort kept the Bulldogs from making any progressive moves to diminish the lead. Villanova was able to hold Butler to 23 points in the first half. They were able to force 16 turnovers, including 7 steals and 6 blocks. Villanova also beat Butler in points off turnovers 17-3 and fast break points 16 to 0. 

 Butler only had one quarter where they had more than 15 points and Villanova went over 15 in all four quarters, including a very impressive 27-point outing in the third. Butler was able to get some scorers with Okaka Adika and Jaia Alexander each going for 14. However, Villanova massively outscored them off the bench with 41 combined points to Butler’s 11. 

With this game it moves the Wildcats to 9-3 and 3-2 in the month of January. The team recently returned from a 19-day hiatus and have had 7 games postponed this month. Villanova now sits at 5th in the Big East. This loss moves Butler to 1-11 and 1-8 this month. Butler only had two games postponed during the month but have been struggling to get anything going offensively. They hope to change that as we open the last month of the regular season. 

The ’Cats will start their February with a game against the 5-7 Providence Friars. They will enter a very crucial month for their Big East hopes, as they get to play a lot of the bottom teams in the conference. They only have three of their remaining 9 games against a team that has a winning record. So, if they want to move up the Big East rankings and put themselves in a good position come tournament time, they must win. Which, of course, starts with a win on Wednesday.