Villanova suffered the heaviest loss of its season yet on Wednesday night, falling to No. 6 UConn, 100-57, on the road.
UConn’s 12-0 run in the first quarter resulted in a one-sided contest that Villanova never led, apart from junior forward Denae Carter’s opening layup.
Maintaining its status as the top team in the Big East, UConn (18-2, 9-0 Big East) rose one spot in national rankings. The Huskies proved to have only grown stronger in the weeks since their previous meeting on Jan. 5, in which they soundly defeated the Wildcats, 83-52.
Meanwhile, Villanova (10-10, 4-4 Big East) stands fifth in the conference following the loss. Freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe led the Wildcats with 15 points, three rebounds and four assists. Sophomore guard Maddie Webber and graduate forward Maddie Burke added 11 points each.
The Huskies posted their second triple-digit win of the season, after piling up 101 points against Iowa State on Dec. 17. UConn’s potent offense bombarded Villanova throughout the night, shooting 66.67% from the field and 60.0% from three.
UConn freshman forward Sarah Strong led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from the long range. After dropping 21 points against Villanova earlier this month, Strong remained the biggest threat on the court for the Wildcats.
UConn senior guard Paige Bueckers ended the night with 21 points, eight (all defensive) rebounds and nine assists.
The Wildcats could not dig themselves out of the early-game hole. The closest Villanova reached to UConn’s lead after the first quarter was an 11-point deficit following a Bascoe three-pointer, assisted by Burke.
The Huskies dominated the second half with an efficient third quarter, in which they shot 72.22% from the field. Meanwhile, the Wildcats were just 33.33% from the field in both the third and fourth quarters.
Freshman guard Allie Ziebell’s layup put the Huskies on the 100-point mark with two minutes and 38 seconds left to play.
Looking ahead, Villanova will seek to get back on track with a home matchup against Xavier on Saturday, Jan. 25 (2 p.m., FloSports). The Musketeers (6-13, 1-7 Big East) sit last in the conference and are chasing their first home win of the season on Saturday.
