The number three seed Villanova Wildcats defeated the number six seed Butler Bulldogs by a score of 70-49 in the quarterfinal round of the Big East Tournament. The game was played on Sunday night in Rosemont, Illinois and was Villanova’s first of the Tournament after earning a first round bye.

The Wildcats took the lead shortly after the tip and never looked back, building a 21 point lead by halftime. Villanova lived up to its billing as one of the top defensive teams in the conference by holding Butler to just 49 points on 30% shooting from the field.

’Nova employed a balanced attack on the offensive end. Junior guard Katherine Coyer led the team with a season-high 16 points on an efficient 7-10 shooting. Freshman guard Alex Louin chipped in with 15 points on 5-8 shooting from beyond the arc. The team’s leading scoring during the regular season, junior guard Caroline Coyer, was held without a field goal during the contest, but was able to contribute seven points and seven rebounds.

“We played pretty well today and we got a boost from Alex (Louin) without having our leading scorer (Caroline Coyer) score,” Villanova head coach Harry Parretta told Big East Women’s Basketball.

Villanova built a 12 point lead in the first three minutes of the game with three three-point shots from junior forward Kavunaa Edwards and one from senior center Emily Leer. A hot start on the offensive end was complemented with stifling defense on the other end as the ’Cats did not allow a Butler point until three and a half minutes into the tournament game, holding Butler to 1-of-15 shooting to start the game. 

The Bulldogs got within 13 points with 7 minutes left to play in the first half. But that was as close as they would get for the rest of the night as ’Nova extended its lead to 25 over the next 4 minutes with a 12-0 run.

Villanova maintained a 17 point lead early in the second half, but Louin extended that lead in a hurry by burying three three-points in a span of three minutes to push the Wildcat lead to 22.

Junior guard Blaire Langlois did her best to keep Butler in the game with an impressive 24 point, 13 rebound performance. Fellow junior guard Lexus Murphy added 12 points for the Bulldogs, but struggled from the field, making just 6 of her 22 attempts.

Villanova held Butler to just 30% shooting from the field and 20% from the three point line. On the other end, the Wildcats shot 40% from the field and had a 38% mark from three point range.

Turnovers and assists were very telling statistics in the quarterfinal contest. The Bulldogs committed 11 turnovers compared to just three turnovers for Villanova. ’Nova also had assists on 23 buckets while Butler had just 3.

Villanova advances to tomorrow night’s semifinal round against DePaul. Villanova will be making its 13th all-time appearance in the Big East semifinals tomorrow night and looks to earn a shot at its fourth Big East Title. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 2 at 9 p.m.

The number three seed Villanova Wildcats defeated the number six seed Butler Bulldogs by a score of 70-49 in the quarterfinal round of the Big East Tournament. The game was played on Sunday night in Rosemont, Illinois and was Villanova’s first of the Tournament after earning a first round bye.

The Wildcats took the lead shortly after the tip and never looked back, building a 21 point lead by halftime. Villanova lived up to its billing as one of the top defensive teams in the conference by holding Butler to just 49 points on 30% shooting from the field.

’Nova employed a balanced attack on the offensive end. Junior guard Katherine Coyer led the team with a season-high 16 points on an efficient 7-10 shooting. Freshman guard Alex Louin chipped in with 15 points on 5-8 shooting from beyond the arc. The team’s leading scoring during the regular season, junior guard Caroline Coyer, was held without a point during the contest, but was able to contribute seven points and seven rebounds.

“We played pretty well today and we got a boost from Alex (Louin) without having our leading scorer (Caroline Coyer) score,” Villanova head coach Harry Parretta told Big East Women’s Basketball.

Villanova built a 12 point lead in the first three minutes of the game with three three-point shots from junior forward Kavunaa Edwards and one from senior center Emily Leer. A hot start on the offensive end was complemented with stifling defense on the other end as the ’Cats did not allow a Butler point until three and a half minutes into the tournament game, holding Butler to 1-of-15 shooting to start the game. 

The Bulldogs got within 13 points with 7 minutes left to play in the first half. But that was as close as they would get for the rest of the night as ’Nova extended its lead to 25 over the next 4 minutes with a 12-0 run.

Villanova maintained a 17 point lead early in the second half, but Louin extended that lead in a hurry by burying three three-points in a span of three minutes to push the Wildcat lead to 22.

Junior guard Blaire Langlois did her best to keep Butler in the game with an impressive 24 point, 13 rebound performance. Fellow junior guard Lexus Murphy added 12 points for the Bulldogs, but struggled from the field, making just 6 of her 22 attempts.

Villanova held Butler to just 30% shooting from the field and 20% from the three point line. On the other end, the Wildcats shot 40% from the field and had a 38% mark from three point range.

Turnovers and assists were very telling statistics in the quarterfinal contest. The Bulldogs committed 11 turnovers compared to just three turnovers for Villanova. ’Nova also had assists on 23 buckets while Butler had just 3.

Villanova advances to tomorrow night’s semifinal round against DePaul. Villanova will be making its 13th all-time appearance in the Big East semifinals tomorrow night and looks to earn a shot at its fourth Big East Title. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 2 at 9 p.m.