BATON ROUGE- On Friday, March 21, Villanova women’s basketball fell short to Texas Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, with a final score of 57-52.
The loss concludes the 2025-26 season for the Wildcats.
“They were just an extremely special group and we wanted so much more for them,” head coach Denise Dillon said. “You want it more for them because I hate the idea of this team breaking up. It’s breaking up because of five tremendous young women who are finishing.”
Villanova loses five seniors after this season, including Kylee Watson, Denae Carter, Ryanne Allen, Annie Welde and Maggie Grant.
“But I know the younger ones played for them to have a great finish to their careers,” Dillon said. “Yeah, that’s a tough thing but super proud of them and I’m so grateful for what they’ve done for us as a staff and our program and the university.”
Only four Wildcats made it on the scoresheet through the entire game: sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe, junior guard Kelsey Joens, senior forward Denae Carter and junior redshirt sophomore Brynn McCurry.
Bascoe led the ‘Cats with 21 points and four rebounds. Joens added 14 points, going 4-of-6 from the three-point line.
Villanova was 20-of-54 (37%) from field goal range, 6-of-25 (24%) from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 (85.7%) from the foul line.
Joens carried the ‘Cats through the opening quarter, making her strongest start of the season. The Iowa State transfer sank four three pointers all in the first quarter, helping Villanova to a 14-13 advantage at the end of the first. She scored 12 of her 14 total points in the first period.
“The team has instilled a lot of confidence in me to knock down big shots,” Joens said. “So just being there for them to help create things on the offensive end, draw a lot of defense, and that kind of stuff.”
The second quarter saw a few lead changes, as Texas Tech managed to go up by three with 6:21 remaining. Allen was called for two consecutive fouls which led to five total team fouls with 4:58 remaining to put Texas Tech on the line in bonus.
Villanova took another lead before Texas Tech then tied it up again at 22 with 2:53 remaining. With .6 remaining in the half, Bascoe committed her third foul.
The first half was low scoring for both teams, as it ended tied 26-26. Kelsey Joens led in points at the half with 12, while Bascoe with 10. Brynn McCurry was the only other player on the scoresheet, with 4.
Villanova was 11-of-26 (42.3%) from field goal range and 4-of-12 (33.3%) from the 3-point line.
Things continued to go back-and-forth throughout the course of the third quarter. With 32 seconds to go, Carter sank a three to put the Wildcats up one. Texas Tech came down and scored a last minute bucket, however, it did not end up counting as it went in after the buzzer.
The score at the end of the third was 41-40.
The Lady Raiders came out fast in the fourth, going on a 10-5 run that the ‘Cats struggled to keep up with. With 3:21 to go, Texas Tech went up by five points, one of its largest leads of the game.
As time began to run out, it seemed that all hope was lost for Villanova. But, with 14.2 seconds remaining, Bascoe hit a huge three to put the ‘Cats back within three points again. Right after that, Texas Tech committed an offensive foul when inbounding, giving Villanova the ball again with 13.5 on the clock.
Looking to tie things up, Carter took the three and missed.Texas Tech got the rebound and McCurry was called for a foul. From there, the Raiders were able to allow time to expire and ultimately win, 57-52.
The loss marks the end of Villanova’s 2025-26 campaign.
“It wasn’t just about getting here,” Dillon said. “We wanted to advance. Unfortunately it did not happen in our favor. That’ll definitely be the motto, the message with our returning group starting in the offseason.”
Following the National Championship, the NCAA Division I transfer portal will open on April 6, 2026 and close on April 20, 2026.
