On Friday, the Villanova Wildcats defeated the Seton Hall Pirates on the road, 61-55. The win moves the Wildcats to 7-6 overall and 2-1 in Big East conference play.

After the first quarter, the game was tied at 15. The Wildcats then outscored the Pirates in the second and third quarter, giving them a 10-point advantage heading into the fourth. Even though the Pirates outscored the ‘Cats by four points in the final quarter, Villanova held on in order to secure the win in South Orange, N.J.

The scoring was widely distributed among the ‘Cats as three players exceeded double digits. Mary Gedaka led the way with 20 points on 9-16 shooting. Madison Siegrist, who leads the team in scoring this season with 20.5 points per game, held the second highest point total for the Wildcats with 18 points on 5-14 shooting, including 3-9 from deep. Bridget Herlihy contributed 11 points as well. In her return to the lineup from injury, sophomore guard Sam Carangi added eight points off the bench.

The Pirates were able to get more players involved. Seven out of eight players that played were able to score. Desiree Elmore and Barbara Johnson each had 12 points, while Shadeen Samuels followed with 11. Alexis Lewis and Lauren Park-Lane contributed to the scoring with five points each. Seton Hall’s bench scoring added 10 points. Selena Philoxy had two points and Mya Jackson had eight points despite only making three of her 13 shot attempts, including 1-8 on the long ball.

Seton Hall outrebounded Villanova with 42 rebounds compared to the ‘Cats’ 35. The Pirates also recorded more steals and blocks than the Wildcats. However, their low shooting efficiency eclipsed those positive statistics. The Pirates made just 18.5% of three-pointers attempted throughout the contest, while the ‘Cats connected on 33.3%. Villanova also had an overall field goal percentage of 39.3%, while Seton Hall shot 32.8% throughout the game.

After securing the win in New Jersey, Villanova will travel up I-95 for a stop in New York City to play St. John’s on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.