On Wednesday night, Villanova kept its March Madness hopes alive with a crucial, 70-64, win over Georgetown.
Villanvoa (16-11, 10-5 Big East) extended its winning streak to three games with the victory over Georgetown (11-15, 4-11) in its Play4Kay Breast Cancer Awareness game.
Villanova has now won eight of its last 10 games.
Earlier this season, Villanova took down Georgetown on the road, 77-62, without freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe, due to an injury.
Bascoe led the scoring for the ‘Cats with 26 points, tying her career-high and setting a new personal best with four three-pointers.
“It comes from trust in my teammates,” Bascoe said. “They were giving me the ball in the spots that I was open, so I was going to shoot.”
Sophomore guard Maddie Webber added 15 points, while junior forward Denae Carter contributed 11 points and led the rebounding with six. Carter has now led Villanova in rebounding in 18 games this season.
The first half of the game saw inconsistencies from both teams, as scoring was heavily concentrated on two players: Bascoe and Georgetown’s graduate guard Kelsey Ransom. While Bascoe was able to break down the Hoyas’ defense through pull-up shots and drives to the basket, a structured Wildcat offense was a rare sight.
“One thing about Georgetown is how they try to speed you up,” Villanova head coach Denise Dillon said. “They made a key adjustment by putting [Ransom] on [Bascoe], and she is a very disruptive defender.”
Most of Villanova’s efforts were dedicated to controlling the rebounds from the larger Georgetown forwards, who were a challenge in the paint and whose main offense consisted of forcing the ‘Cats to foul on drives.
“Some of the individual plays [Georgetown] made were tough,” Dillon said. “We had to back down [Ransom], and the big difference was that we didn’t bail her out.”
Villanova finished the first half with a 10-point lead, going 44.4% on field goals and 45.5% on three-pointers, while Georgetown trailed behind, shooting 33.3% from the field. The Wildcats led the Hoyas, 35-25.
While the majority of the second half did not see much improvement until the very end when Villanova lost its lead, this deficit seemed to shock the team back to reality as the ‘Cats began to find a rhythm on their offense, and more players got into scoring. By the end of the game, each player had at least one assist, finishing the game with 17 assists on 24 baskets.
“That just shows how when we move the basketball, we’re hard to guard,” Dillon said. “Everyone was a threat and an option. We didn’t even turn the ball over too often.”
Webber led the charge on these efforts with a key three-pointer. However, graduate guard Maddie Burke dropped in a three-pointer with 1:36 to give Villanova a seven-point lead.
“For us, we continue to work on others feeling confident,” Dillon said. “We rely so much on [Bascoe] and [Webber] to take the most shots for us and get the most looks, but they’re fueling confidence in others. I think [junior guard] Ryanne Allen did a great job today, stepping in and knocking down some shots. Even Carter settled in, finding her gaps and finishing the game off.”
Villanova finished the game going 45.3% on field goals and 50.0% on three-pointers, while Georgetown went 42.3% from the field and 41.2% from behind the arc.
Villanova will next travel to Providence (11-18, 4-12 Big East) on Sunday, Feb. 23 (noon, FS1). It is the first and only time the teams will meet in the regular season.
