Nov. 22, 2002

In the 2002-03 season opener at Saint Joseph's, the Villanova Wildcats earned a convincing 59-44 win over the host Saint Joseph's Hawks. The win marked the first time that Villanova has won at Saint Joseph's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse since 1981. Villanova is now just 2-12 all-time in games played on Hawk Hill.

Villanova came out strong, racing to a 10-2 lead just four minutes into the contest. Senior forward Katie Davis led the opening spurt by scoring five of her team's first 10 points. The Wildcats would control the first half and go to intermission leading 30-16.

Davis led the 'Cats in the first half with 11 points, followed by senior guard Trish Juhline who netted 10 points in the first 20 minutes of play. Saint Joseph's committed 12 first half turnovers and shot just 8-of-24 from the field.

The Hawks came out strong in the second half and cut the Wildcat advantage to 35-26 with 16:09 to play in regulation. Seven of Saint Joseph's first eight points were tallied by junior center Stephanie Graff. Villanova responded to the Hawks challenge and went on a 14-1 run over the next eight minutes to establish its largest lead of the game at 49-27. The Wildcat run was led by Davis and Juhline who combined to score nine of Villanova's 14 points. Saint Joseph's would never get closer than 13 points the rest of the way as the Wildcats cruised to the win.

Davis and Juhline led the Wildcat charge, combining to record 40 of Villanova's 59 points. Davis was 8-of-11 from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range for a game-high tying 22 points, while Juhline was 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-5 from long distance for 18 points. Juhline also tallied eight assists, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Other scorers for the Wildcats included freshman guard Betsy McManus with seven, Courtney Mix with six, Nicole Druckenmiller with four and Kelly Nash who chipped in with two. Druckenmiller also pulled-down seven rebounds.

Graff led the Hawks with 22 points and seven rebounds, while junior forward Irina Krasnoshiok had nine points. The Hawks shot 17-of-50 from the field (34%) and 0-for-8 from three-point range, while the Wildcats shot 21-of-50 (42%) from the floor and 9-of-21 (42.9%) from long distance.

Villanova will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 26 when Howard University comes to the Pavilion for the home opener. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m