On Sunday, Jan. 5, Villanova took on No. 7 UConn, falling 83-52 in front of its first sold-out crowd at the Finneran Pavilion since Feb. 17, 2023. With the win, the Huskies remain undefeated in the Big East with an overall season record of 13-2.
“It was a tough day against an extremely talented UConn team, so a great win by them,” Villanova head coach Denise Dillon said. “I hope for the ‘Cats to continue to learn and grow, and get better with a lot of the season left.”
Villanova’s defense struggled to keep up with UConn’s powerful offensive capabilities, as the Huskies shot 59.3% from the field and 40.0% from three. Meanwhile, the Wildcats shot 33.3% from the field and 34.6% from the long range across the game.
UConn senior guard Paige Bueckers proved her status as the Big East’s leading scorer with 19.9 points per game, despite missing the fourth quarter. After scoring 15 points along with nine assists, the UConn star injured her left leg at 1:17 left in the third quarter. Meanwhile, UConn’s freshman forward Sarah Strong led the Huskies with 21 points and five rebounds, making up for her Bueckers’ absence.
On Villanova’s side of the court, freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe was the highest scorer for the ‘Cats, with 12 points and three assists. Bascoe has received Big East Freshman of the Week several times this season already and is an active competitor against Strong for the title.
Junior forward Denae Carter had seven assists while also scoring 10 points. Graduate guard Maddie Burke also chipped in with nine points and four rebounds.
“Defensively, I mean, they’re in a situation where they’re sharing the board all so well,” Dillon said. “I mean, how much more difficult does that need to be?”
UConn won the initial jump and quickly built its lead in the first quarter going on an 8-0 scoring run. Come halftime, the Huskies were up 31-18.
Villanova tried to turn things around at the beginning of the third quarter, going on an 8-0 scoring run itself. However, consecutive threes by Bascoe and sophomore guard Maddie Webber were not enough to shorten the scoring gap, and despite Bueckers’ exit from the court, the third quarter ended with a 66-37 UConn lead.
In the final quarter of play, the Huskies continued to extend their lead with a few efforts by the Wildcats to block shots. At 4:53, the Huskies had built their largest lead of the night of 35 points with a score of 79-44. The last points of the game was a three pointer by Burke that put the final score at 83-52.
Looking ahead, Villanova will now face Georgetown (8-6, 1-2 Big East) who it is tied with for third in the Big East.
“When you’re in a situation like this, as we face now Georgetown, our next opponent, just being prepared for it, feeling that pressure from one of the top teams, it’s got to give you at least the confidence for the players to know we’ve seen this,” Dillon said. “We’ve got to flip the switch as to taking advantage as opposed to falling to that pressure.”
The Wildcats are scheduled to take on the Hoyas in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 8 (7 p.m., FloSports).
