Villanova Women’s Basketball Storms Past St. Joseph’s in WBIT

Villanova Women’s Basketball trailed 60-55 with less than 40 seconds to play in the fourth period of their Sunday, March 23 game at St. Joseph’s in the second round of the WBIT, but Maddie Webber and Maddie Burke each nailed three-pointers in the waning seconds to snatch victory away from their Big 5 rival.

After Webber’s three, she stole a pass away from Hawks guard Mackenzie Smith, setting up the go-ahead shot from Burke with four ticks left.

The final seconds saw a new brand of intrigue. St. Joseph’s committed just two fouls in the first nine minutes of the fourth period, leaving them with four fouls to give before Villanova would receive free throws and give the Hawks a chance at the final possession.

Cindy Griffin Works the Rulebook

Needless to say, with two seconds left in the game, St. Joseph’s didn’t have enough time to commit that many fouls, so head coach Cindy Griffin asked for a video review, one she almost certainly knew would fail.

With the Hawks out of timeouts, that triggered a foul call — an experimental rule employed during the WBIT this season — without burning any time off the clock, sending Villanova to the line and giving St. Joseph’s one last chance.

The Wildcats made just 36.2 percent of shots from the field compared to 46 percent for the Hawks, but led 11-1 in three-pointers made, more than enough to cover the gap.

St. Joseph’s led 16-7 early after a 12-3 run, but Bronagh Power-Cassidy drained two threes off the bench and Jasmine Bascoe, who finished with a team-high 15 points, sank two layups in the final minute of the first period to trim the deficit to 17-15. Villanova pulled ahead with a 7-0 run early in the second period and carried a 33-28 lead into the half, but the Hawks came on strong out of the break, limiting the Wildcats to just two made shots in the third period and three more in the first eight minutes of the fourth… until a barrage of three-pointers helped them surge back.

Villanova Women’s Basketball, who beat Boston College in the opening round, advances to host the Portland Pirates (31-4) at the Finneran Pavilion in the WBIT quarterfinals on Thursday, March 27.