Kennedy Henry Starring as Villanova Calls On Their Freshmen

Kennedy Henry came to Villanova Women’s Basketball as the No. 78 player on the ESPN 100 for the class of 2025. Four games into her college career, Henry, a six foot tall guard, is excelling on both ends of the court.

During the Wildcats’ 73-68 home loss to Princeton on Wednesday, Nov. 12, Henry did a little bit of everything, scoring 13 points along with five rebounds, four assists, six steals and a block, making 62.5 percent of her shots while playing a team-high 34 minutes. After the game, Villanova (2-2) head coach Denise Dillon credited Henry’s knowledge of the game as part of the fast start to her Wildcats’ tenure. 

“It was nice to be able to throw her in there early, obviously we need her. She’s getting that experience quickly. But her overall basketball IQ is really good,” Dillon said. “I think that’s what gives her the edge that she needs. She’s played good basketball, high school and AAU, but it’s a definite flip to this level. But she is embracing it and trying to learn quickly.”

While Dillon acknowledged that the Wildcats have needed to call Henry’s number early and often as they navigate a tough out-of-conference slate, she also said that she hopes she can scale back Henry’s playing time in order to keep her fresh.

“She just has areas where she impacts both ends of the floor. Defensive end, uses her length, making some passes on offense and some shots as well. So she just contributes in so many areas,” Henry said. “I think it’s probably a little too many minutes because she got a little gassed down the stretch, lost a little bit of that bounce that she had, but definitely pleased with her early in her career.”

Fatigue Sets In

The Wildcats led by as much as 14 points in the second half, but Princeton managed to reel them back in every time they seemed poised to take a commanding lead. The Tigers stepped up their intensity to begin the fourth period, committing six fouls in the first three minutes and turning up the heat on a Villanova team already beginning to tire.

Dillon said she tried to keep her team settled during the three timeouts she called during the quarter, but Princeton’s aggressive strategy worked.

“[I need to] do better trying to connect with the players out there to keep them settled. Keeping that urgency on the defensive end, trying to get stops that we needed,” Dillon said. “Some shots weren’t falling, so I think a little panic set in, so just roping them in. Connected with them to feed them some confidence and, yeah, just to try to get some cleaner looks down the stretch as well.”

Villanova didn’t make any shots from the field in the last eight minutes and 33 seconds of the game. They made 9 of 12 free throws to stay ahead for much of the period, but they couldn’t outpace the Tigers forever. Dillon said part of the offensive struggles stemmed from fatigue, as the Wildcats didn’t cut and get themselves open with the intensity they needed.

“I think there was a lot of standing around instead of the movement that we needed,” Dillon said. “Had a little fatigue set in, forcing some things and they came up with some big steals and we rushed some shots late in the clock. Understanding we’re trying to use the clock time and score, but it wasn’t in the flow.”