March 22, 2008

Box Score

MADISON, Wis. - In a second round WNIT game on Saturday night, Villanova (17-15) shot 57 percent in the second half - including 7-of-9 three-pointers in the period - and defeated Wisconsin (16-14) by a score of 60-54 at the Wisconsin Field House. The Wildcats advance to the third round of the WNIT and will play either Colorado or Gonzaga on Thursday night. The location for that game has yet to be determined.

Seven of the nine players who saw action for Villanova hit at least one three-pointer and the Wildcats finished 11-of-21 from behind the arc in the game. That level of accuracy was pivotal to the outcome of a game in which the two sides were separated by no more than four points for a span of 23 minutes that included the last six minutes of the first half and the first 17 minutes of the second period.

Senior Stacie Witman (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) scored a team-high 17 points and junior Laura Kurz (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) added 15 for Villanova. Kurz added seven rebounds while Witman had five boards and five assists in the game.

Beyond the production of the Wildcats two leading scorers, however, the game may have turned on the contributions of sophomore guards Maria Getty (Centerville, Ohio) and Tia Grant (Lido Beach, N.Y.), and junior forward Briana Weiss (Piedmont, Calif.). The trio combined to score all 22 of their points in the second half to help carry Villanova into the third round.

The Wildcats never trailed after Getty's three-pointer with 8:32 to play gave Villanova a 43-42 lead. Two minutes later Weiss snapped a 45-45 tie with the second of her three triples to put the Wildcats in front for good. She finished with nine points on the evening. Her first two three-pointers gave Villanova the lead and her third stretched the Wildcat advantage to a game-high eight points, 54-46 with 1:52 to play.

Grant finished with seven points and Getty tallied six points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals.

In the opening minutes of the contest, Villanova went 1-for-6 from the field and committed three turnovers as Wisconsin took an 8-3 lead with six-plus minutes gone by. However, from that point on the Wildcats turned the ball over just five times the rest of the game.

After the Badgers went ahead 18-11 with 6:47 to play before halftime, Villanova scored seven straight points to tie the score at 18-18. The Wildcats wound up the half with a 9-4 spurt to trail 22-20 at the break. Witman scored the first four points and Kurz the last five in that run to keep Villanova within striking distance.

Jolene Anderson had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Wisconsin. The Badgers received scoring from all nine players that appeared in the game but Anderson was the lone player to score in double figures.

Colorado and Gonzaga play a second round WNIT game on Monday evening in Colorado. If Colorado wins, the third round WNIT game for Villanova would take place in Boulder on Thursday. Should Gonzaga win, the Zags would travel to play the Wildcats at the Pavilion on Thursday.

NOTES: After setting the NCAA single-season record for made three-point field goals on Wednesday night against American, the Wildcats broke their own school and NCAA record for three-pointers attempted in tonight's game ... Villanova has attempted 833 three-pointers this season ... The previous record was 825 attempts ... The Wildcats also are averaging 9.91 made three-pointers per game this season ... No team has ever averaged more than 10 three-point field goals made per game in a season ... The nine points scored by Weiss were a season-high and marked her first points since she scored three points at Notre Dame on January 16 ... Since scoring six points against Penn on December 1, Weiss had tallied just six points in her last 18 games ... Villanova reaches the third round of the WNIT for the second time in the last three years ... In 2006, the Wildcats were defeated at home by Western Kentucky in the third round ... Villanova is 4-4 all-time in WNIT contests ... This marked the first meeting ever between the two teams in women's basketball.