|
Wildcats Begin Play in Big East Tournament as they Take on St. John's in First Round Action
March 2, 2001
Women's Basketball Game Notes in PDF Format
Big East Tournament
2000-01 Villanova
20-7 Overall
WILDCATS FINISH FOURTH: Villanova finished Big East play with an 11-5 conference record which tied them for fourth place with Virginia Tech. Due to Virginia Tech's 65-59 win over Villanova on Jan. 23 in Blacksburg, the Hokies win the tie breaker and claim the four seed in this weekend's Big East Tournament.
VILLANOVA AWARDED FIFTH SEED: Due to Virginia Tech winning the tie breaker with Villanova, the Wildcats will be the fifth seed in this weekend's Big East Tournament to be played at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn. The Wildcats will play the tournament's first game at noon on Saturday, March 3 versus No. 12 St. John's. This is just the third time in history that Villanova has been seeded fifth in the conference tournament. In 1996, No. 5 Villanova defeated No. 12 St. John's, 56-42, in the first round before losing to No. 13 Pittsburgh, 59-57, in the quarterfinals. In 1993, No. 5 Villanova downed No. 4 Pittsburgh, 74-59, and then lost to No. 1 Miami, 67-49, in the semifinals.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: Villanova opens the Big East Tournament at noon on Saturday, March 3 versus No. 12 seed St. John's. If Villanova defeats the Red Storm, the Wildcats will take on No. 4 seeded Virginia Tech on Sunday, March 4 at noon. If the `Cats advance to the semifinals they will play at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 5. The championship game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 6. Other first round games on Saturday, March 3 include No. 8 Georgetown versus No. 9 Syracuse at 2 p.m., No. 7 Boston College versus No. 10 Miami at 6 p.m. and No. 6 Seton Hall against No. 11 Providence at 8 p.m.
BIG EAST HISTORY: Since beginning play in 1983, Villanova has recorded a 206-158 (.565 percent) all-time record versus Big East Conference opponents. The Wildcats are 187-142 in regular season play and 19-16 in the Big East Tournament. Villanova has two Big East Tournament titles to its credit, as it captured the crown in 1986 and 1987. In the past 18 Big East Tournaments, Villanova has advanced to the semi-finals eight times and have been in the title game on three occasions.
Villanova versus opponents in the big east tournament: TOURNEY STREAK: Villanova has won six-straight Big East Tournament first round games. The last time the Wildcats did not advance past the first round of the conference championships came in 1994 when they lost as the seven seed to 10th seeded Syracuse, 62-57. Villanova has won its first round game in 14 of 18 Big East Tournaments. However, Villanova has not reached the semifinals of the Big East Tournament since the 1995 tournament played at Seton Hall.
WILDCATS VERSUS RED STORM: Villanova and St. John's have met five times in the Big East Tournament with Villanova holding a slim 3-2 advantage. The last time the two teams met in the conference tournament was in 1996 when the Wildcats downed St. John's, 56-42, at Gampel Pavilion. In 1990 at Gampel, No. 8 St. John's defeated No. 9 Villanova, 64-58, while a year earlier at Seton Hall, No. 2 Villanova outlasted No. 7 St. John's, 82-78, in triple overtime. In 1987 in the semifinals at Villanova, the No. 1 seeded Wildcats beat No. 4 St. John's by a score of 54-40 and in 1984, No. 3 St. John's earned a 63-48 victory over No. 2 Villanova in a game played at St. John's. In the overall series, Villanova leads 23-16 and have beaten the Red Storm in 14 of the last 15 meetings.
REGULAR SEASON MEETING: Villanova and St. John's met once during the regular season when the Wildcats defeated the Red Storm, 63-52, on Jan. 31 at The Pavilion. The `Cats led 31-24 at halftime and were up by as much as 51-34 with 10:38 left, before St. John's made a furious comeback to cut the lead to 54-50 at the 2:08 mark. From that point, Villanova outscored St. John's, 9-2, to secure the victory. In the win, Villanova was led by senior center Brandi Barnes who had a game-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Katie Davis had 12 points and seven rebounds and Trish Juhline netted 11 points including three field goals from behind the arc. Junior guard Rasheedah Brown led the Red Storm with 15 points, with LaTasha Thompson recording 11 points and Katrina Johns and Sherri Brown each scoring 10. Villanova shot 44.7 percent for the game compared to St. John's who connected on 37.3 percent of its shots.
WILDCATS MOVE UP TO 23: For the third-straight week, the Villanova women's basketball team is ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25. In the poll released on Monday, Feb. 26, the Wildcats moved up from No. 24 to No. 23 (with 101 points). Texas is No. 22 with 111 points, while Wisconsin (70 points) and Arizona (56 points) fall in behind Villanova at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively. Earlier this season on Monday, Jan. 22, the Wildcats earned a national ranking for the first time since the 1986-87 season when they were No. 24 in the Associated Press poll. Villanova stayed at No. 24 for two weeks before falling out of the poll on Monday, Feb. 5.
WILDCATS WIN 20: By winning at Miami last Tuesday, Villanova reached the 20-win plateau to enter the Big East Tournament with a 20-7 overall record and an 11-5 Big East Conference mark. The 20-win season marks the 10th time in head coach Harry Perretta's 23-year Villanova coaching career that he has won 20 or more games. Villanova's last 20-win campaign came during the 1995-96 season when they were 21-7.
FANTASTIC FINISH: Villanova finished the regular season in exciting fashion last Tuesday in Coral Gables Fla. The Wildcats trailed Miami, 37-21, at intermission before rallying in the second half to cut the Hurricane lead to 52-50 at the 7:09 mark. Miami then responded by scoring the next seven points to grab a 59-50 advantage with 3:35 to play, before the `Cats stunned Miami and scored the game's final 10 points to escape with a 60-59 win. Villanova's first lead of the game came when sophomore Trish Juhline hit the game-winning three-point field goal from the top of the key with 12 seconds remaining in regulation.
MAKING HISTORY: Wildcat head coach Harry Perretta became Villanova's all-time winningest basketball coach for both men's and women's basketball with his team's 61-45 win over Providence on Saturday, Feb. 24. Former Wildcat men's coach Al Severance tallied 413 victories from 1936-61. Earlier this season on Dec. 5, Perretta recorded his 400th career win in a 60-55 victory over Temple.
Villanova Top 5 Basketball Coaching Records By Wins 1. Harry Perretta (1978-present) 415-243 Al Severance (men's bball/1936-61) 413-201 3. Rollie Massimino (men's bball/1973-92) 357-241 4. Jack Kraft (men's bball/1961-73) 238-95 5. Steve Lappas (men's bball/1992-present) 173-107 SUCCESSFUL OPPONENTS: As of Thursday, March 1, the Villanova women's basketball was rated 10th in the RPI as posted by www.collegerpi.com. The site also had Villanova as having played the sixth toughest schedule in the country. Of Villanova's 24 opponents, 13 have have won 16 or more games, 11 have won 18 or more games and seven have tallied 20 or more wins. Of the team's 24 opponents, 16 currently have winning records. In addition, the Wildcats are 11-7 versus top 100 teams in the RPI and 16-7 versus top 150 teams.
BARNES SCORES 1,000: Senior center Brandi Barnes scored her 1,000th career point on a lay-up at the 18:35 mark in Tuesday night's win over Miami. Of her 1,005 career points, 45 came during her freshman season at the University of Maryland. Barnes transferred to Villanova and is currently in her third season with the Wildcats. During her Villanova career, Barnes has scored 960 points.
LEADING THE WAY: Senior center Brandi Barnes has had a terrific senior season for the Wildcats. Entering play in the Big East Tournament, Barnes leads the Wildcats in scoring (14.0 ppg.), field goal percentage (156-for-295 for 52.9 percent), blocked shots (41) and she is second in rebounding with a 5.9 rpg average. In 27 games this year, Barnes has scored double figures in 21 of the contests, including six games of 20 points or more. In the latest Big East statistics, Barnes is eighth in scoring, second in field goal percentage, fourth in blocked shots and 19th in rebounding.
A PERFECT MIX: Freshman Courtney Mix has turned into one of Villanova's most versatile performers. The Perrysburg, Ohio native has seen time this year at both guard spots and both forward positions. Last Tuesday at Miami, Mix tallied 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with six rebounds, a career-high tying five steals and an assist in 27 minutes of action. After 27 games, she is averaging 7.6 ppg., a team-high 6.6 rpg., a team-best 1.7 spg., and 2.2 apg. Her numbers are even more impressive for just conference games as she averaged 8.5 ppg., 7.5 rpg., 2.3 apg., and 2.0 spg. She has had four games this year where she has registered double figures in rebounds. She has also reached double figures in points on eight occasions this season. In her last nine games (254 total minutes), Mix has committed just five turnovers.
TEAM BASKETBALL: As is the case with all Harry Perretta coached teams, this year's Wildcat team plays very unselfish basketball. For the season, Villanova has had an assist on 490 of its 617 field goals for 79.4 percent. By comparison, Villanova's opponents have had an assist on 327 of 593 field goals 54.1 percent. In Tuesday's win at Miami, the Wildcats were credited with an assist on 20 of their 23 field goals.
DIAL LONG DISTANCE: Villanova has used the three-point shot to its advantage all season long. After 27 games, the Wildcats are 194-of-571 (34.0 percent) from three-point land, while their opponents are just 62-of-260 for 23.8 percent. When you look at it in points, Villanova has outscored its opposition by 396 points at 582-186 from behind the arc. The Wildcats are currently averaging 21.1 three-point field goal attempts per game, while they are making an average of 7.1 triples per contest which ranks seventh in the latest NCAA statistics. There have been eight games this year where Villanova has made 10 or more three-point field goals in a game. In 27 games, only once has Villanova's opponent made more triples than the Wildcats. That came at Pennsylvania when the Quakers made four compared to Villanova's three. At Notre Dame, Villanova and the Irish both connected on just one three-pointer, while at Connecticut, the Wildcats and Huskies each made five shots from behind the arc.
111 STRAIGHT: Entering the Big East Tournament on Saturday, March 3, Villanova has made at least one three-point field goal in 111-straight games. The last time the `Cats failed to connect on a triple in a game came at Boston College on Jan 25, 1997. Twice during this 111 game span, Villanova has tied the NCAA record for three-point field goals made in a game with 18 (vs. Penn 12/20/97 and earlier this year versus WVU on 1/3/00).
BIG WINS: By defeating No. 10 Rutgers on Saturday, Jan. 20, Villanova has now tallied three wins over ranked opponents in the last two seasons. Last season, Villanova won at No. 9 Rutgers, 66-65, in overtime and they defeated No. 19 Boston College, 60-59, in a game played at Villanova.
2000-2001 DOUBLE-DOUBLES:
Brandi Barnes vs. Pennsylvania (12/12) 20 points 11 rebounds Brandi Barnes vs. Bucknell (12/29) 20 points 11 rebounds Courtney Mix vs. Georgetown(1/10) 11 points 11 rebounds Brandi Barnes vs. Virginia Tech (1/23) 16 points 10 rebounds ALL IN THE FAMILY: Sophomore forward Nicole Druckenmiller and freshman forward Courtney Mix both have members of their immediate families with professional athlete status. Druckenmiller's brother, Jim, was a star quarterback at Virginia Tech and played in the NFL with both the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins. He is currently a member of the Memphis Maniax of the XFL. Mix's father, Steve, played in the NBA for the Pistons (1969-72), 76ers (1973-82), Bucks (1982), and Lakers (1982-83). He is currently a television broadcaster for the 76ers.
STABILITY: Villanova has used the same starting line-up in 23 of its 27 games this season. The starting five of Mimi Riley (point guard), Trish Juhline (shooting guard), Brandi Barnes (center), Katie Davis (small forward) and Nicole Druckenmiller (power forward) has been used in every contest except Penn State, Fairfield, Notre Dame and Providence. Junior Stephanie Baker started for Barnes versus Penn State and she started for Druckenmiller at Notre Dame. Against Fairfield, head coach Harry Perretta started Kelly Nash who is a Fairfield, Conn. native in place of Katie Davis. In the Providence game, Perretta started his four seniors in the last home contest of the season.
TOP SHOOTER: Sophomore guard Trish Juhline finished the regular season as the Big East Conference leader in three-point field goals made with 64 in 166 attempts for a .386 percentage. Pittsburgh's Brooke Stewart was second with 58 three-point field goals. Juhline finished fourth in the Big East statistics for three-point field goal percentage. Last year as a freshman, Juhline was 66-for-186 (35.5 percent) from behind the arc. For her career, she is 130-for-352 (36.9 percent) from long distance. Juhline is currently second on the team in scoring with an 11.0 ppg. average.
RUNNING THE SHOW: The person responsible for controlling the game for Villanova is junior point guard Mimi Riley. After missing all of last season with a foot injury, Riley has returned in top form to be one of the key performers on this year's Wildcat squad. After 27 games, Riley is averaging 8.0 ppg., 4.1 rpg., and 5.0 apg., in a team-high 32.7 minutes per contest. In addition, Riley is shooting 44.9 percent from the floor (71-for-158). With 135 assists and just 50 turnovers, Riley led the Big East Conference in assist to turnover ratio with a ratio of 2.70. Tasha Pointer of Rutgers finished second behind Riley with a ratio of 2.68.
MARKED IMPROVEMENT: After playing in all 30 games as a freshman in 1999-2000 and gaining valuable experience, sophomore forward Katie Davis has stepped her game up this year and is one of Villanova's bright young stars. As a rookie last year, Davis averaged 5.9 ppg., 4.4 rpg., 0.97 spg., and 1.4 apg., compared to this year where she is averaging 8.8 ppg., 3.7 rpg., 2.5 apg., and 1.2 spg. One area where Davis has drastically improved her game is in the shooting department. As a freshman she shot 38.2 percent from the field and made 20-of-68 (29.4 percent) from three-point range. This season, she is shooting 46.6 percent from the floor and is 41-for-108 (38 percent) from behind the arc. Davis has scored in double figures in 11 games this year. As a freshman a year ago, she netted double figures just five times.
PROVING THEM WRONG: In the Big East Conference preseason Coaches poll, Villanova was chosen to finish seventh in the 14-member Big East Conference. By tallying an 11-5 Big East Conference mark, the Wildcats finished in a fourth place tie with Virginia Tech. The following is the coaches preseason predicted order of finish.
1. Connecticut 169 2. Rutgers 152 3. Notre Dame 150 4. Boston College 129 5. Georgetown 100 Virginia Tech 100 7. VILLANOVA 94 8. Pittsburgh 92 9. Miami 88 10. Syracuse 53 11. St. John's 49 12. Providence 44 13. Seton Hall 39 14. West Virginia 15
|
|
