Villanova Women’s Basketball Drops Boston College, Sets Up Big Five Rematch

Villanova Women’s Basketball advanced into the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament on Thursday, March 20, taking down the Boston College Eagles 76-70 at the Finneran Pavilion.

The Wildcats started slow to begin each half, finding themselves behind 15-4 and 56-50 to start the first and third periods, respectively.

Freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe dropped 24 points while Ryanne Allen contributed 17 off the bench, nailing two three-pointers in a row late in the first period to help erase a double digit lead. She then added two more free throws for eight points in the frame.

The Wildcats took the lead early in the second quarter behind a 9-2 run, eventually making it 38-31 on a Maddie Webber jump shot, but Boston College closed out the half on a 7-0 run to knot the game at 38. While the Eagles stayed one step ahead of Villanova for much of the third period, Bascoe and Jaliyah Green each made a triple in the last three minutes of the frame to pull ahead. Bascoe made a mid range shot in the waning seconds of the period to make it 62-60 heading into the final frame.

The Wildcats’ defense tightened up in the fourth period, forcing seven turnovers and a 25 percent shooting rate. Villanova built up a 72-64 lead, not allowing a shot from the field for 5:43 of game time and riding the wave to victory.

Villanova Women’s Basketball advances to face St. Joseph’s University in a Big Five rematch: the Wildcats won 81-65 at the Michael J. Hagan ‘85 Arena, where this matchup will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 23. The Hawks knocked off Albany 69-40 in their opening round matchup, and will host as the higher seed.