Villanova WBB Falls Short Against UConn | Recap, March 9

This past Monday, the Villanova Wildcats Women’s Basketball team lost to the Connecticut Huskies in the BIG EAST championship game, 90-51, played at Mohegan Sun Arena. The No. 2 Wildcats, who are 25-7 on the year, just could not come through one more game to win it all against the Huskies, who are a perfect 34-0 on the season. The Huskies came out firing on all cylinders, jumping out to an 11-3 lead early in the game. In this time frame, they hit 11 of their first 18 shots. Villanova had a very hard time getting things going on offense. They opened the game going 3-for-13 from the field and found themselves trailing 23-1 at the end of the first quarter, a hole that Villanova dug that was very hard to come back from, especially against a top UConn team. By the end of the second quarter, UConn was up 49-23, further solidifying its lead, and the Wildcats were not even able to cut UConn’s lead to less than 27 the rest of the game.

Although things didn’t go the way they wanted to for Villanova, there was some positives. Sophomore Jasmine Bascoe led Villanova with 14 points, and freshman Kennedy Henry was able to continue her strong and steady play with 9 points and 7 rebounds. Both players earned spots on the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team for their efforts. UConn was led by Azzi Fudd, who recorded 19 points, and Sarah Strong, who recorded 18 points. The Huskies dominated rebounding as well, which gave them the edge throughout the whole game.

What’s next for Villanova WBB? Well, they will now shift their focus to the NCAA Tournament. With their record, they should have a favorable seed in the tournament. Villanova will look to its star players to contribute their strong play as it headsinto March Madness and aims to make a deep run.