On Tuesday, Feb. 13, Villanova faced Georgetown in Washington D.C. The Wildcats defeated the Hoyas, 62-47, at the McDonough Arena. The win improved ‘Nova to an overall record of 16–8 and conference record of 9–4.
Georgetown currently is seventh for the Big East conference. In their last meeting at home, Nova defeated the Hoyas in overtime, 53-51. This time around, the ‘Cats lengthened their lead earlier in the game. The Wildcat starters against Georgetown were junior guards Zanai Jones and Lucy Olsen, junior forward Christina Dalce, along with senior guard Bella Runyan and freshman guard Maddie Webber.
Unsurprisingly, Olsen was the highest scorer of the game with 33 points, five of which were from free throws. Olsen also pulled off eight rebounds, four turnovers, and two steals against the Hoyas.
Runyan had 11 points, 3 of which were three pointers. Webber scored eight points and had five rebounds. Dalce achieved six rebounds and three field goals for the ‘Cats.
Some players ran into some foul trouble against the Hoyas. Junior guard Kaitlyn Orihel obtained four fouls with half of them in the third quarter. Dalce had three fouls and was taken out five minutes into the third quarter, not returning till the beginning of the fourth.
The ‘Cats put on a strong showing, going 70 percent on the free throw line and making 100 percent of their foul shots during the third quarter. Villanova made five three-pointers out of the paint and a team total of 33 rebounds on Tuesday. ‘Nova was up by 4 points at the half with a score of 27-23.
With six lead changes and the scores tying four times, Georgetown lost its final lead a few seconds into the second half. During the third quarter, Villanova went on a 17-0 run where the Hoyas did not score a single point for seven minutes. Up 17 points, it was Villanova’s largest lead of the day.
The ‘Cats solidified their win by the beginning of the fourth quarter, holding out the Hoyas through the final ten minutes.
With five games left in the season, the Wildcats currently sit at third in the Big East Conference. Villanova will next play Butler at the Finneran Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 4 p.m.
