March 23, 2006

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. - In the quarterfinal round of the WNIT on Thursday evening, Villanova (21-11) was unable to overcome 65 percent shooting by Western Kentucky (27-6), and the Wildcats saw their season come to an end with a 94-81 defeat at the Pavilion. Villanova ended its season by winning nine of its final 12 games and advancing three rounds deep into the WNIT while making its seventh consecutive postseason appearance.

Senior forward Liad Suez-Karni (Even-Yehuda, Israel) scored 22 points, dished out 10 assists and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to lead the Wildcats. In her final career game, Suez-Karni reached 20 points for the 21st time, including the 10th time this season. In doing so, she passed Michelle Thornton and winds up in 12th place on the school's career scoring list with 1,274 career points.

In addition to Suez-Karni, the loss marked the final career game for six other seniors who helped the Wildcats win 91 games and make four straight postseason appearances during their careers. Forward Kate Dessart Mager (Media, Pa.) scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and point guard Betsy McManus (Pearl River, N.Y.) tallied seven points and four assists for the game. Guards Courtney Roantree (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Jenna Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) added five and three points, respectively.

Despite trimming a 21-point deficit to as few as nine points down the stretch in the second half, Villanova could not make up for the shooting prowess of the Lady Toppers. Western Kentucky, which finished the regular season with an RPI ranking of No. 17, hit on 8-of-9 three-pointers and was 35-of-54 (64.8%) from the field. The outburst of 94 points were the most allowed by the Wildcats in nearly 15 years since North Carolina State scored 102 points against Villanova in the opening game of the 1991-92 season.

During a critical stretch of the second half, the Wildcats made seven consecutive shots in a span of just under four minutes, the first four of which were all three-pointers. Suez-Karni made the first two shots from beyond the arc, while Roantree and redshirt freshman forward Lisa Karcic (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) each connected once from long range.

However, the sharp-shooting by Villanova during that span was matched by the Lady Toppers, who made six baskets in a row themselves. Despite scoring 20 points in a span of 3:57 midway through the second half, the Wildcats could take just three points off of a 19-point deficit, and trailed 76-63 with 9:17 remaining.

Momentum did briefly return to Villanova, which scored six straight points in 53 seconds to get within 84-75 with 3:34 remaining. The Wildcats then got a defensive stop and had a chance to get as close as six points, but a three-point attempt was off the mark. Western Kentucky closed out the game by making eight free throws in the final three minutes to seal the victory and advance to the WNIT semifinals.

Karcic scored a career-high 16 points for the night, making 5-of-11 shots from the field - including two out of three 3-point attempts - and all four of her free throw attempts. Junior forward Jackie Adamshick (Allentown, Pa.) contributed eight points on 4-of-7 shooting for the evening.

Crystal Kelly led six Lady Topper players that scored in double figures with 28 points and seven rebounds in just 29 minutes. She was 10-of-15 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. Charlotte Marshall scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Dominique Duck tallied 13 points.

Western Kentucky shot a sizzling 67 percent (20-of-30) in the first half and pulled away to a 50-33 halftime lead, thanks in part to a buzzer-beating three-pointer from just inside half court by Tifany Zaragoza. Karcic made a pair of free throws with two seconds left before the intermission, but Zaragoza caught an inbounds pass and just beat the horn as time expired.

Villanova led once in the contest, at 7-5 in the opening minutes, but the Lady Toppers went on an 18-6 run in four minutes to go ahead 23-13 with 11:43 remaining in the opening period. Western Kentucky would eventually go on to score another 20 points in the final 6:07 of the half, including an 18-7 run in the final 4:31 to build a double-digit lead after the Wildcats were within 32-26 at the 5:42 mark.

Villanova won at least 20 games for the fifth time in six years in 2005-06, and finish the season with a record of 21-11. The Wildcats were 12-8 entering the month of February before their 9-3 finish, with all three losses coming to teams ranked in the top 20 of the RPI.