On Thursday, Jan. 15, Villanova Women’s Basketball fell to the No.1 University of Connecticut, 99-50, on the road in Storrs, CT.
Entering the contest, Villanova (14-4, 7-2 Big East) trailed only UConn in the conference standings and was looking for its seventh all-time road win against the Huskies. However, UConn (18-0, 9-0 Big East) solidified its place at the top of the conference, beating Villanova by 49 points. Before the matchup, the Huskies had tallied four wins against nationally ranked opponents this season, averaging a 17.5-point margin of victory per game.
The 49-point loss marks Villanova’s largest margin of defeat this season and is the Wildcats greatest loss to UConn in almost two decades, when Villanova lost to the Huskies, 88-33, on Jan. 3, 2008.
The Wildcats were outshot by UConn on field goal attempts, going 18-for-65 (28%) and 39-for-71 (55%), respectively. The Wildcats were also dominated by the Huskies on three-pointers, going 8-for-32 (25%), in comparison to UConn’s 6-for-20 (30%). At the free throw line, Villanova went 6-for-7 (86%), and UConn went 15-for-21 (71%).
Villanova freshman guard Kennedy Henry returned after missing two games due to injury to lead the Wildcats in scoring with 12 points, followed by junior forward Brynn McCurry with 11.
For UConn, sophomore guard Sarah Strong accounted for nearly a quarter of the Huskies’ scoring success with a game-high 24 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks. Three other Huskies put up points in the double digits with graduate guard Azzi Fudd’s 14 points, junior guard KK Arnold’s 13 points and freshman forward Biana Quinonez’s 13 points.
The Huskies managed to control the lead from start to finish, going ahead on the first possession of the game.
Strong mobilized the Huskies’ early lead, scoring eight points in the first quarter and 15 points by the end of the half.
With six minutes remaining in the second quarter, UConn took its largest lead of the half, 38-13. However, Villanova retaliated, chipping away at the UConn lead over a 10-0 scoring run.
The first half concluded with UConn leading Villanova, 45-27, marking the Wildcats’ largest point-deficit at halftime of the season.
To open the second half, UConn kept continuous offensive pressure, scoring 16 points in the half’s opening five minutes.
Towards the end of the fourth quarter, UConn collected its largest lead of the game with 49-points as time expired.
Villanova is now scheduled to return to the Finneran Pavilion to face Butler University (8-10, 2-6) on Sunday, Jan. 18th (2 p.m., ESPN+). The Wildcats have won nine of the last ten meetings and lead the all-time series against the Bulldogs, 18-7.
