The Wildcats Are Going to the WBIT Final Four for the Second Consecutive Year
VILLANOVA, PA 3/27/2025 –
The Villanova Wildcats women’s basketball team advances to the WBIT Final Four in Indianapolis via a 71 – 61 win over the Portland Pilots at the final game of the season at the Finneran Pavilion. Villanova will play Belmont in the semifinal round of the tournament. Going to the championship round of a national tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse is a significant achievement, and is not lost on the Wildcats.
“It’s really big,” said Villanova guard Jasmine Bascoe. “We have so many girls that this was their last home game. We want to keep this going for them. This is a big accomplishment. We want to get this done.”
Second Time in the WBIT Final Four for Nova
Last season the Wildcats went to the championship game of this tournament. This team can match that by winning the next game. However, this is a significant achievement by the team that have so many new players. Only Maddie Burke and Kaitlin Orihel played significant minutes in last year’s experience. This group earned their spot in the tournament getting better each game.
“It’s about the progression, the buy in to doing what you’re capable of and working it out together,” said Villanova Coach Denise Dillon. “I think it is an incredible feat for this group, having so many challenges, and an incredibly tough non conference schedule.”
“We played some tough games and the Big East was a battle,” Bascoe said. “Just being able to push through and keep going for as long as we can.”
Jasmine Bascoe Filled the Stat Sheet
The star freshman scored a game-high 20 points on 9 of 20 shooting. She added a career-high tying 8 assists, and took down 5 rebounds. At the 5:23 mark of the second quarter Bascoe stole the ball which gave her the freshman record for most steals in a single season with 64. She had 4 in the game to give her 65 this season. Bascoe looks at this as just part of the game.
“When you have that ability to handle the basketball the way she does with whatever pressure and pass the ball to an open player, her court vision is tremendous, and then just having that scoring ability,” Dillon said about Bascoe’s ability to impact a game. “It’s talked about, people being three way scorers, different things that they do. But when you’re impacting every possession, it’s really hard to stop.”
Turnovers a Key to the Win
Portland turned the ball over 20 times. The stat gave Villanova a 19 – 6 advantage in points off turnovers, and led to fast break chances where the home team posted a 26 – 1 edge. Steals by the Wildcats accounted for 7 of the Pilots miscues.
The gap was especially pronounced in the first half where Villanova forced 12 Portland turnovers and 15 – 0 in points off turnovers with a 12 – 0 gap in fast break points.
“It was off our defense creating and rebounding the ball and getting down the floor, and Jas (Jasmine) finding a person for some easy buckets,” said Dillon.
What the Numbers Say
Villanova had three other players score in double-digits. Maddie Webber posted 16 points while Ryanne Allen had 12 and Lara Edmundson added 10. Nova shot 45.2% (28 of 62) and held the Pilots to 38.5% (20 of 52).
Portland is known as a second half, come from behind team. They did cut the gap to 38 – 33 early in the third quarter. Villanova answered with an 11 – 0 run and maintained distance for the remainder of the game.
The Pilots (31 – 5) had two players in double figures. Emma Shearer scored a team-high 17 points and Trista Hull added 13 points. Hull also had a game-best 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Up Next
Villanova (21 – 14) plays their semifinal game on March 31.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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