Villanova Wins Their Pod With a 81 – 65 Victory on Hawk Hill
PHILADELPHIA, PA 12/1/2024
With the win the Villanova Wildcats earned the opportunity to play for the Big Five Championship. The Wildcats did so behind a balanced effort and a career-high 26 point effort from freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe. Villanova plays Temple for the title on their home court while Saint Joseph’s meets Drexel for third place.
Bascoe was the offensive catalyst for the Wildcats. She scored 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting, drained all three of her three-point shots, and sank 3 of 4 from the line. In addition added 4 assists and 4 rebounds. An impressive performance on a big stage, but her thoughts were about the team win.
“It means a lot, but at the end of the day, this is a team sport,” Bascoe said. “I know I’m doing this for the other girls on the court, for Denise, for the rest of the coaches. So numbers don’t really matter as long as we’re getting the dub.”
Bascoe is from Milton, Ontario. She is learning about the city rivalry, but is focused on more.
“I’m learning more about it,” said Bascoe. “We talked about it before this game, but we’re looking for as many championships as we can get. This was our first step right here after the Bahamas. We want to get this Big Five championship. We’re going to do anything to get there.”
Inside Defense Boosted the Wildcats
For Nova to be successful it was important that they limit the inside game of Saint Joseph’s forwards Talya Brugler and Laura Ziegler. They did so by using quickness that created steals and a physical presence to block shots. Brugler and Ziegler got their points, 16 and 12, but those came later in the game. Villanova blocked 6 shots, 3 by Danae Carter, and had 8 steals total from five players.
“We got a lot of new faces, but style of play remains the same,” said Villanova Coach Denise Dillon. “Knowing how hard we had to work on the perimeter to limit some of those easy post passes. When they got them, they’re scoring the ball.”
Nova executed the plan and did disrupt the Saint Joseph’s offense who made 14 of 44 shots from inside the arc.
“It definitely had an effect on the offense,” Saint Joseph’s Coach Cindy Griffin said about the impact of the Villanova inside defense. “Sometimes you’re second guessing your approach to the rim. We needed to counter with some moves down there, and we didn’t do that.”
The Hawks could not get an inside / outside balance as they made only 4 of 14 three-pointers.
“We’re a very goof three-point shooting team,” Griffin said. “When you’re not knocking them down and you’re not getting the opportunities that you are used to getting, you’ve got to find other ways to score. If you look at the shot attempts, it’s very similar. But we shoot 31% and they shoot 50%. Not good.”
Nova Did Have Offensive Balance
Overall Nova made 30 of 59 field goal attempts, the thirty being a season-high in made field goals. The Cats were good on 9 of 17 from outside the arc. St. Joe’s could not cover the whole floor.
“Just having multiple threats on the floor, everyone being a threat, everyone being an option,” Dillon said. “You see it with our assists, we were willing to share the ball, 19 assists. Only 7 turnovers. We took care of the ball and were getting shots. With this group it doesn’t matter, they really want to celebrate each other. It was great.”
What the Numbers Say
Villanova guard Maddie Webber scored 18 points, the only other Wildcat to score in double figures. Carter pulled down a team-best 6 rebounds.
Ziegler did register a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Mackenzie Smith led her team with 8 points. The Hawks made 25 of 27 free throws.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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