As Villanova (5-5) led by 12 points entering the second half against Fairfield (6-2), it looked as though the Wildcats were on the way to a much-needed victory.
From late in the first quarter until there was one minute and 56 seconds left in the game, Fairfield never led. But on Sunday night in Connecticut, the Stags were the team to come out on top, 74-71.
The Wildcats were hoping to turn around from a disappointing 76-62 loss in the Big 5 Classic championship game to Saint Joe’s on Friday, Dec. 6.
In some ways, they did: the Wildcats shot 68.0% from the field throughout the first half, going 17-for-25. But declined shooting in the second half and foul trouble resulted in the Stags making a late comeback bid.
Junior forward Denae Carter finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, leading both areas of stat sheet, while shooting 6-8 from the field.
Three other Wildcats ended the night with double-digits in points, with freshman point guard Jasmine Bascoe and sophomore guard Maddie Webber scoring 13, and graduate forward Lara Edmanson scoring 12.
After a close first ten minutes, the Wildcats broke away in the second quarter. A Carter layup with one minute and 25 seconds left in the first half gave Villanova a 13-point lead, its largest of the game.
After going just 3-of-20 from three against Saint Joe’s, Villanova started the game against Fairfield avoiding taking shots from outside the arc. The ‘Cats completed two of just four three-point attempts in the first half against the Stags, with Bascoe and senior guard Kaitlyn Orihel sinking threes.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats started to falter. They shot 33.3% from the field and allowed the Stags to narrow the deficit to just two points going into the final ten minutes.
The inconsistency continued into the fourth quarter, with the Wildcats shooting 5-of-16 from the field and 1-of-6 from three. Villanova also committed three costly turnovers in the fourth quarter, while forcing one from Fairfield.
Villanova will look to bring back its winning record with two more non-conference games before Big East play begins. The Wildcats will travel to Newark, NE to take on Delaware (3-5) on Wednesday, Dec. 11 (6:30 p.m.).
They will then return to the Finn to play James Madison (7-3) on Sunday, Dec. 15 at (2 p.m., FloSports).
