VILLANOVA, PA. 1/11/2019 – The Villanova Wildcats hosted the #15 Golden Eagles of Marquette in a matinee performance at the Finneran Pavilion. Marquette showed why they are nationally ranked and on the favorites to win the conference defeating Villanova 91 – 55.
The game started at 11:30 AM due to the Education Day program which brought 1,000 grade school students from local schools for the event. After the program the students stayed for the game.
It was a good start for the Wildcats as they ended the first quarter trailing the Golden Eagles 21 – 19. Nova held a 19 – 18 lead on a layup by Mary Gedaka, who scored a team-high 14 points. It was the last points for the Cats until Jannah Tucker converted a free throw with 3:42 remaining in the second quarter, a dry spell of nearly 7 minutes. In the meantime Marquette used their speed and athleticism to get out on the fast break or get to the basket scoring 24 straight points to gain a 42- 20 lead. And with that, control of the game. For the game Marquette got 31 fast break points.
“Talent, experience, you have all that, you’re pretty good,” Villanova Coach Harry Perretta said about his opponent. “I think they are a cut above everybody in the Big East.”
“You make fundamental mistakes against them, turnovers, they turn them into points in four to five seconds. They can do a lot of different things. It was hard for us to compete with them.”
Natisha Hiedeman scored a game-high 24 points. All five Marquette starters scored in double figures. Danielle King had 17 points while Erika Davenport contributed 16, and Amani Wilborn and Selena Lott each chipped in 13 points. Davenport had a season-high 11 rebounds and a career-high tying 5 assists. Wolborn led the team in assists with 6. Overall, the Golden Eagles had 18 assists on 32 field goals.
Villanova got 13 points from Kelly Jekot and Brianna Herlihy set a career-mark with 10 points.
Marquette improves to 13 – 3, 4 – 0 in the Big East, staying in a tie for first place with Butler in conference.
“After two, anybody can win,” Perretta said about the competitive balance in the Big East. “Anybody can win on a given day. Anybody can win on the road, anybody can win at home. It’s one of those things this year.”
Villanova stands at 10 – 5, 2 – 3 in the league. The Wildcats host DePaul on Sunday. It will be a quick turnaround, but every weekend in the Big East is that way.
“I made sure the starters didn’t play 37 minutes, sometimes when the game is over, it’s over,” said Perretta. You live to fight another day.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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