Villanova (10-9, 4-3 Big East) and St. John’s (11-7, 1-6 Big East) faced off for the second time this season on Saturday, Jan. 18. The Wildcats bested the Big East foe once again, coming out with a 66-64 win on the road.
It was a much more competitive forty minutes than the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 21, in which Villanova routed St. John’s, 71-57.
Sophomore guard Maddie Webber continued her breakout season with 17 points, three rebounds and four assists against St. John’s.
Another highlight of Villanova’s win was junior guard Ryanne Allen, who scored a season-high eight points and 10 rebounds off the bench. She helped the Wildcats out-rebound the Red Storm 33-30 across the game.
Allen spent 23 minutes on the court, the most since her return in December from an early-season knee injury.
Meanwhile, the Red Storm succeeded in limiting freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe, who dropped 24 points in the win on Dec. 21, but scored just nine on Saturday afternoon. While contributing four assists in the first half, Bascoe did not make a basket until a three-pointer one minute and 31 seconds into the third quarter.
Villanova jumped on St. John’s to start the game with a 8-0 lead. Graduate guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy and graduate forward Maddie Burke connected on back-to-back threes.
The Wildcats’ early energy faded, as the Red Storm responded with a 13-2 run that gave them the lead by the end of the first quarter.
After trailing on the scoreboard by as many as eight points in the second quarter, Villanova went into halftime behind just 25-24. Webber helped close the gap, scoring eight points in the second quarter alone.
Productivity from outside the arc helped the Wildcats chip away at the deficit after the break. Villanova connected on 4-of-8 from three in the third quarter, while St. John’s was just 1-for-3.
Bascoe found ways around the St. John’s defense, adding nine points in the third quarter. A driving layup followed by a defensive rebound by Allen gave Villanova a 39-31 advantage with five minutes and 23 seconds left in the period.
The game continued in see-saw fashion until the final minutes. Late in the third quarter, St. John’s junior guard Skye Owen found a groove. She added a layup and a three-point jumper to close Villanova’s lead to just three, forcing Dillon to call a timeout with two minutes and 38 seconds left of the third quarter.
The Wildcats solidified the victory in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Allen gave Villanova a double-digit lead as the clock passed the three-minute mark.
The Red Storm sought after the game-tying points in the final minute. Senior guard Lashae Dwyer’s buzzer-beating layup wasn’t enough to tie it, and resulted in a narrow two-point Wildcat win.
Villanova will now head to Storrs, CT for its next matchup against No. 6 UConn (16-2, 7-0 Big East). The undefeated Huskies last took down the Wildcats, 83-52, at the Finneran Pavilion earlier this month. The Wildcats remain in the middle of the Big East pack, standing in fifth. With the loss, St. John’s drops to ninth in the conference.