After back to back losses over the Thanksgiving holiday, The Wildcats bounced back nicely on Wednesday, defeating Princeton 67-46 in the Finneran Pavilion. 

Princeton held a 1-6 record coming into the day, and sat at the bottom of the Ivy League.

The Wildcats took the lead early on over the Tigers, with forward Mary Gedaka dominating in the paint. Gedaka made three layups and two free throws within the first six minutes of the game, putting a quick eight points on the board. Adrianna Hahn also helped with the quick start as she made back to back shots in the first five minutes on a bailout three and a mid-range jumper. By the end of the first quarter, Villanova held a 19-15 lead.

The pace slowed down a little in the second quarter, but the ‘Cats continued to pull away thanks to some excellent defense. Villanova held Princeton out of the paint and forced them to take tough shots that led Princeton to a field goal percentage of only 30% in the first half. ‘Nova also put up another 15 points in the second quarter, thanks in part to senior forward Jannah Tucker, as she continued the scoring with five points in the second quarter and finished the first half with nine points on nine shots. The ‘Cats led 34-22 at the break.

Throughout the second half, Villanova continued to defend effectively while moving the ball and creating shots. Senior Grace Stant made back to back threes to kick off the scoring for Villanova in the third quarter. Adrianna Hahn continued to score after the break as well. Her jump shot was uncontainable in the first half, and in the second, she repeatedly fought to the rim for lay-ins, ending the game shooting 7-11 and 3-6 from deep for 17 total points. Mary Gedaka continued her dominance as well, putting up more points and winning almost every rebound battle. She wound up with a double-double performance of 15 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore forward Bridget Herlihy, who shot only 1-6 in the first, finished the game with a nice second half performance too, with nine points and six boards on the day.

Junior guard Kelly Jekot, Villanova’s leading scorer, had a quiet night as she struggled from the field. She found good looks from the perimeter a few times in the second half but the shots just weren’t falling. Despite averaging 18.4 points a game up to this point, she finished with just four points on 12 shots. Others were able to step in tonight, however, and the ‘Cats walked away with the win, bringing them to 4-2 on the season. 

The team will travel down the Main Line to take on St. Joe’s on Sunday, December 2nd. Tip-off is set for 2pm.