On Wednesday, Nov. 20. Villanova (3-1) hosted its first Big 5 pod game against Penn (3-2) in the leadup to hosting the Big 5 Classic on Dec. 6.
The ‘Cats defeated the Quakers, 80-64, at the Finneran Pavilion.
The highest scorers for Villanova were junior forward Denae Carter and freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe, who each notched 16 points across the 40 minutes.
“It’s great to have Jas [Bascoe] out on the floor,” head coach Denise Dillon said. “I think our returning players and some of the veterans are really taking her under their wing and allowing her to grow each day and enjoy playing with her out on the floor.”
Carter also pulled off nine rebounds and completed 100% of her free throws. Sophomore guard Maddie Webber reached 12 points, nine of which were three-pointers. Graduate guard Maddie Burke managed five rebounds. Burke sank four three-pointers, ultimately scoring 14 points for the ‘Cats, all in the first half.
Villanova was able to keep its foul count to a minimum. The only Wildcat who fell into foul trouble was freshman guard Dani Ceseretti, who came out of the fourth quarter with four personal fouls.
To start off the game, Carter won the jump ball and put up the first points for the ‘Cats, 10 seconds in. ‘Nova proceeded to go on a 7-0 scoring run until Quaker senior Stina Almqvist scored Penn’s first points at 6:54.
In the first five minutes of the quarter, the ‘Cats were able to hold the Quakers to only two points with a score of, 12-2. Two jump shots from Carter put the ‘Cats up by 11 with 2:54 left in the quarter. Additional shots put off by Burke and Webber, put Villanova up 22-12, at the end of the quarter.
Graduate forward Lara Edmanson achieved the first points of the second quarter with a shot in the paint. At 6:54, graduate guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy sank a three-pointer, followed by two shots by Webber, putting the ‘Cats up by 18 points. Burke hit another three-pointer, which extended Villanova’s lead, 37-18.
With no surprise, Burke pulled off two more three-pointers in the span of 34 seconds. Only allowing the Quakers to ten points in ten minutes, the ‘Cats held their lead, 44-22 to complete the first half.
“We need that statement early of the execution on offense, knocking down shots, and the rebound,” Dillon said. “That’s been a focus with our group. Just the challenge of us winning some rebounding wars. We did it today.”
Quaker Simone Sawyer put up her first field goal of the game to start off the second half. A few minutes later, Sawyer fouled Webber leading to two more free throws for the ‘Cats. A minute later at 7:15, Edmanson drew a foul to get Villanova up, 50-27. Senior guard Jaliyah Green scored her first points of the night, followed by a three by Bascoe.
The ‘Cats closed out the third quarter with a 23 point lead over Penn.
Several jump shots from Carter early in the fourth quarter helped the ‘Cats achieve their highest lead of the night of 29 points. Dillon began subbing out the starters, giving bench players more time on the court late in the game.
The ‘Cats allowed the Quakers to score 21 points in Q4. Although Villanova was only able to score 14 points in 10 minutes, it still overpowered Penn to solidify its first Big 5 win of the season.
“[The Big 5] is a really big thing here. I think today [the team] understood that,” Carter said. “It was going to be a physical game, that we’re playing for something a lot bigger.”
Villanova will travel to Nassau, Bahamas to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis. The weekend-long tournament starts on Friday, Nov. 23, and Villanova is scheduled to take on Texas A&M at 9 p.m.
