On Wednesday, Feb. 18, Villanova women’s basketball fell 83-69, to No. 1 University of Connecticut at the Finneran Pavilion. The ‘Cats managed to keep their momentum throughout the first half, leading 40-37, causing the Huskies’s first halftime scoring deficit of the season.
Villanova (21-6 overall, 14-4 Big East) previously lost, 99-50, to the undefeated Huskies back on Jan. 15 in Storrs, CT. UConn (28-0, 18-0) was named the 2025-2026 Big East Regular Season champions.
“It honestly was a train wreck at their place,” head coach Denise Dillon said. “The growth from a month ago is fantastic, and that’s what you want, especially when you have younger players.”
Senior forward Denae Carter achieved a career-high of 21 points and had three steals. Carter also went 8-of-9 from the field and was 3-of-3 from the three-point line.
Sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe managed 26 points against the Huskies and grabbed nine rebounds along the way. Bascoe did not sit out once, playing the full 40 minutes to keep up with UConn’s fast pace. Junior forward Brynn McCurry was held to five points and was responsible for seven of Villanova’s 26 turnovers.
“I think that maturity came through tonight,” Dillon said. “I mean she’s tough to take off the floor at any point, but how she handled it, when things weren’t going her way, locked back in.”
“I think just all of us playing together…really opened up the floor, and I think keeping that intensity eased it up on offense,” Carter said. “We know we just have to fight for all four quarters. I think we took some plays off, but next time, we’ll work harder.”
Bascoe scored 18 points in the first half while UConn forward Sarah Strong was held to only eight points in the first 20 minutes. She added 13 points in the second half.
At 9:45 in the third quarter, the score was tied at 40 after a three-pointer from UConn guard Azzi Fudd. The ‘Cats never regained the lead for the rest of the game.
“[Bacoe] is a super talented player, and we struggled to guard her in that first half,” Fudd said. “She was getting basically whatever she wanted, whether it was a layup or three, she’s a phenomenal player. She was making great passes, doing everything for them.”
Fudd has been named the Big East Player of the Week for the past two weeks. She was the highest scorer for the Huskies at 25 points and went 10-of-18 on field goal attempts.
Rookie guard Kennedy Henry had nine points and led the team with five assists. The ‘Cats only scored a total of eight points off the bench. Five came from sophomore guard Dani Ceseratti and a three pointer from freshman forward Brooke Bender.
“It was the kind of game that you used to play back in the old days in the Big East,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. “Today, I think they made a concerted effort to play more one-on-one and try to beat us off the dribble and get into the lane.”
Strong had four personal fouls by 6:30 left in the third quarter and was replaced by freshman forward Blanca Quinonez for the remainder of the quarter, re-entering the game in the fourth.
The ‘Cats were 45.8% from the three point line and went 10-of-15 on free throws compared to UConn’s 53% beyond the arc and 13-of-20 at the line.
Villanova is scheduled to play its last home game against Marquette (21-11, 12-6 Big East) this weekend. In the ‘Cat’s previous matchup against Marquette, they lost 69-85, on Jan 4. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22 at the Finneran Pavilion. The game can be streamed on Peacock.
