After defeating Wake Forest in their home opener, the Wildcats were eager to continue the success against the Ivy League. But on Wednesday night, the ‘Cats fell short to Princeton in a tight matchup in New Jersey, 70-61.
The leading scorer for the Wildcats was sophomore guard Maddie Webber, with a career-high 23 points along with three assists. Not far behind, scoring 19 points, was freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe. Junior forward Denae Carter also fought for five rebounds.
Villanova achieved a high free throw percentage, making 18-21 for 85.7%. Despite their strengths from the foul line, the ‘Cats struggled with field goals and three pointers, finishing with under 40% accuracy in both.
On both sides of the court, players fell into foul trouble throughout the game. On the Princeton side of the bench, two Tigers received three personal fouls, and another two Tigers ended the game with four.
Villanova was not immune to the foul struggles. After two fouls in the 3rd quarter and three in the fourth, graduate guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy fouled out of the game with 21 seconds left. Three more Wildcats received four fouls: Carter, Bacoe and graduate forward Lara Edmanson.
The first quarter started with back-to-back field goals for Princeton. A few minutes in, the ‘Cats pulled off jump shots followed by two successful free throws by Carter. Villanova had several missed shots early on, but still managed to keep up with Princeton.
By the end of the first quarter, the ‘Cats were two points behind the Tigers, 16-14.
By the second quarter, Villanova was growing more dominant on the defensive side, allowing the Tigers to score 12 points across the ten minutes. Meanwhile, the first points for the ‘Cats in Q2 did not come into play until 8:04, when Webber hit a three-pointer. Webber’s shot put Nova behind by just three, 20-17.
Soon after, both teams went into a nearly three-minute scoring drought. With 4:54 until the half, Princeton’s own Parker Hill broke the drought by hitting a jump shot.
The Tigers and ‘Cats allowed each other a few points ultimately leading to a 28-28 tie at the half.
Sixteen seconds into the second half, Webber sank another three-pointer. Princeton Tiger Fadima Tall fouled Carter, leading to two more free throws for the ‘Cats. For the remainder of the third quarter, Villanova was only able to pull off shots in two-minute increments, not accounting for free throws. Starting at 2:18 and ending at 00:53, the Tigers went on a 9-0 scoring run, putting the ‘Cats 11 points behind with a score of 51-39.
To close out the game, the ‘Cats gave their best efforts to creep back up to the Tigers. Princeton did not score again until three minutes into the final quarter, while Villanova scored four points. This put the score at 55-47 with 7:13 left to play.
Bascoe scored five points in 26 seconds for the ‘Cats, but it was not enough effort for Villanova to overpower Princeton. In the last minute of the game, the Tigers went on a 6-3 scoring run to solidify their win.
After defeating Villanova, the Princeton Tigers are now 2-1 for the start of the 2024-2025 season. The Wildcats are now 1-1.
Villanova is next scheduled for another Ivy opponent, hosting Columbia at the Finneran Pavilion on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. (FloSports).
