2/19/2003
Box Score
VILLANOVA, PA. ? Basketball teams can live by the three or die by the three and Wednesday night at the Pavilion, Villanova?s women?s squad (19-4, 9-3) survived against the Georgetown Hoyas (14-9, 5-7). Barely.
Hitting big threes when it counted, the #20 Wildcats improved their record with a 51-37 win over the Hoyas despite pummeling the rims on both ends with a rain of long balls. In 40 minutes Villanova shot 29 three point field goals, converting on just 7 of them (24.1%) while taking only 26 shots from inside the two-point land city limits. It was key makes at the start of the first and second half, combined with a stifling defense that helped hand Georgetown the loss.
Scoring a season low 37 points as a team, Georgetown?s leading scorers, Rebekkah Brunson (Oxon Hill, Md./Oxon Hill) and Mary Lisicky (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) were held to just 14 points on 4-of-19 shooting. Brunson?s nine points mark just the second time all season she has been held under double figures. The Hoyas shot a mediocre 29.2% from the floor, paced by Nok Duany?s (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North) 10 points on 4-of-7 from the field. Brunson led all Georgetown rebounders with nine.
The 2-0 score showing on the board with over five minutes elapsed in the first half came as no surprise to a home crowd that is accustomed to watching Villanova?s third ranked defense shut down opponents. On this night Georgetown was equal to the defensive task, as the teams combined for four points in the first six minutes. Despite the early lull, Villanova slowly built a seven point lead on the back of Katie Davis? three three-point field goals until the Hoyas responded in kind with a 9-1 run to take their first lead of the game at 7:11. Duany came off the bench to power Georgetown with six points and four rebounds during this spurt, making it 15-14 Hoyas.
The teams traded the lead down the stretch before Carmen Bruce (Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley) hit a lay-up with ten seconds on the clock to send Georgetown into the locker room up 23-21 at the half.
Villanova came out gunning to start the second period as Davis hit her first shot, a three (her fourth trey of the evening) while Nicole Druckenmiller followed it with a three-ball of her own to regain the lead. Duany converted on a strong inside play to silence the salvo but Davis knocked down another three to give Villanova a 32-25 cushion with 15:01 remaining.
Georgetown would cut the lead to as little as a single point, but Villanova maintained its seven-point edge up to the 3:16 mark. Davis hit two free throws and after nearly seven minutes without a trey, the Wildcats connected from long range for the last time with a dagger, establishing a double-digit lead that Georgetown was unable to crack.
Davis led all VU scorers with 21, hitting 5-of-8 from behind the stripe and accounting for 71% of Villanova?s three-ball points.
Georgetown hosts the #22/#25 Scarlet Knights on Saturday, February 22 when Rutgers travels to McDonough Gymnasium to take on the Hoyas at 2:00 p.m.
