Villanova WBB Loses Heartbreaker to Texas Tech in Round of 64

Villanova Women’s Basketball’s season came to an end on Friday, March 20, with the Wildcats unable to secure an upset over No. 7 seed Texas Tech in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats led for 19 minutes and played with the score tied for seven more minutes, taking a narrow lead in the first behind four made threes from junior guard Kelsey Joens, who cracked double digits for the first time since Feb. 7. While she started all 33 games for the Wildcats this season, Joens went through an up-and-down season as a scorer. A former transfer from Iowa State, Joens described Villanova’s system fits her and kept her motivated even when her shots weren’t falling, allowing her to seize the moment with the season on the line.

Surprise Hero

“The team has instilled a lot of confidence in me to knock down big shots, so just being there for them to help create things on the offensive end, draw a lot of defense, and that kind of stuff,” Joens said. “Coming here I knew that they like to move and I felt like that would best suit me just constant movement.”

They are really good at sharing the ball so I knew that that would fit me,

Villanova lead scorer Jasmine Bascoe (21 points) described how Joens’ contributions picked the team up early, the rest of the Wildcats going 1-for-9 in the first ten minutes.

“You can get something from anyone any night. That’s the beauty of this team that we had this year. Everyone on the court can play and give you some energy,” Bascoe said. 

“So Kelsey had a great start to the game and that kind of opened it up for us. Then just my role is being a leader. Even if I don’t feel like I’m playing well, that doesn’t mean I can’t be positive for my teammates and the girls. We’re all going to pick each other up and talk to each other. I think that’s why we were able to stay in the game.”

Lady Raiders Take Away the Three

Villanova made just six of 25 shots from three as a team against the Lady Raiders’ stingy defense, most of those makes coming from Joens in the first ten minutes.

“You look at this stat sheet, we do shoot a lot of threes,” Wildcats’ head coach Denise Dillon said of her team’s offense. “Some a little more rushed than others. Just the recognition of who has the hot hand. It can’t be off a set call. That continued movement, getting some looks.”

Dillon went on to describe how Texas Tech negated Joens’ impact as the game went on, taking away her looks from beyond the arc.

“She [Joens] got some cuts in the second half. They took her off the three. Thought she did a good job moving without the basketball and getting a couple looks there,” Dillon said. “Our greatest offense is when we’re in motion, and you get worn down a little bit and teams take you out of that rhythm. They have the advantage and then we were just forcing some individual plays.”

While the Wildcats shot a respectable 14-of-29 from two-point range, Texas Tech controlled the final ten minutes, allowing just four of 18 shots to fall. 

Fourth Quarter Theatrics

Senior forward Denae Carter put Villanova in front 41-40 at the end of the third with a three, but Texas Tech opened the fourth on a 10-2 run that put them in command. Turnovers began to crush the Wildcats, who committed four in the first 2:12 of the fourth quarter and 11 in the second half.

“Hard-fought battle for sure. I feel awful for our group,” Dillon said. “Just think they laid it all out there. Left it on the floor. They knew they couldn’t take it with us. Credit to Texas Tech for battling and finding a way to pull it out.”

After trailing 50-43 with four minutes to play, a jumper from Jasmine Bascoe (21 points) and a Brynn McCurry layup pulled them back within a possession, but the Wildcats made just one basket over the next three minutes, the Lady Raiders leading 55-49 with 16 seconds to play. Bascoe drained a three to cut the deficit in half, then Villanova forced a turnover on the inbounds pass to get the ball back with no need to foul and a chance to save their season.

“Just staying positive. You never know what can happen in a game. We were fortunate to get that back and focused on the play at hand,” Bascoe said of the Wildcats’ continued drive. “We weren’t trying to think too far in advance; just see what we could get out of timeout or a stoppage there. And just telling each other we’re good, we got this, huddling up together, feeling that connection so we were all on the same page.”

Carter’s three attempt clanged away and Lady Raiders’ senior Bailey Maupin drained both her free throws to seal the game.