Dec. 11, 2004

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Villanova jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the first half and never trailed as the Wildcats downed Saint Joseph's women's basketball team 52-30 Saturday afternoon at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

The Wildcats scored on their first four possessions of the game and held the Hawks to a free throw as Villanova jumped out to a 10-1 lead just 2:50 into the game.

Saint Joseph's bounced back using a 5-0 run to cut the Wildcats' lead to 10-6 on a jump shot by sophomore guard Whitney Ffrench at 14:01.

Villanova slowly opened up a 10 point lead over the next seven minutes as junior forward Liad Suez gave the Wildcats a 24-14 lead on a layup at 6:32. Suez would add two consecutive buckets to end the half as the Wildcats headed into the locker room up 30-17.

Despite a layup by red-shirt freshman forward Erica Pollock in the opening possession of the second half, Saint Joseph's went cold from the field, going 3-22 over the remaining 19:39.

At the opposite end, Villanova continued to extend its lead to as many as 27, 51-24, on a free throw with 1:33 remaining in the game.

For the contest, Saint Joseph's shot 23.4 percent from the floor on 11-of-47 shots, including 0-for-9 from behind the arc. The Wildcats finished 19-of-43 from the floor for 44.2 percent, including 5-of-11 from three-point range.

Saint Joseph's out rebounded Villanova 36-28 and won the battle in the paint, 20-18.

For the sixth time this season, Pollock paced the Hawks offense, scoring 12 points and adding five rebounds and two blocks. Ffrench grabbed a career-best eight rebounds to go with five points and a steal.

Villanova forward Jackie Adamshick posted a double-double 15 points and 11 rebounds and Suez was the only other Wildcat to score in double figures, adding 13.

With the loss Saint Joseph's falls to 2-8 on the season and 0-2 in the Big 5. The Wildcats improve to 6-2 and 3-0 in Big 5 play.

Saint Joseph's returns to action Wednesday, December 22 at Boston College.