Dec. 22, 2009
Senior guard Maria Getty (Centerville, Ohio) connected on 3-of-4 three-pointers and scored a team-high 15 points on Tuesday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena to lead Villanova (8-2, 4-0 Big Five) to a 44-41 win over La Salle (3-8, 0-1 Big Five). The victory secured the 11th overall and seventh outright Big Five title for the Wildcats, whose last championship came in the 2003-04 season.
"We are all so excited to win the Big Five title," senior guard Kyle Dougherty (Sayre, Pa.) said. "None of the seniors have won this before so we really wanted to win it this year."
Both teams struggled not only in shooting from the floor but at times from the free throw line as well in the kind of low-scoring affair that is quickly becoming Villanova's favored style of play. The Wildcats have won four games in a row and have not allowed more than 43 points in any of the victories during the streak.
In this afternoon's game, Villanova led by as many as nine points several times in the second half, including a 41-32 lead with 4:34 remaining. The Wildcats still had to withstand a charge by the Explorers down the stretch. Although La Salle didn't get within one possession of Villanova until making a basket at the buzzer, the final possessions of the game were anything but comfortable for either side.
Villanova led 41-37 with 49 seconds remaining when junior center Heather Scanlon (Drexel Hill, Pa.) missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw opportunity. The Explorers pulled down the rebound and Antonia Gale was fouled down at the other end of the floor to stop the clock and give La Salle a chance to pull within two points with a pair of free throws.
After Gale missed both of her foul shots, Dougherty was fouled at the other end with 35 seconds to play and missed the front end of another 1-and-1 opportunity. The Explorers rebounded and Jamie Walsh missed a three-pointer with 19 seconds to play. Dougherty finally hit both ends of a third 1-and-1 chance with 12 seconds left to extend the lead to six points at 43-37.
La Salle countered with a basket of their own with six seconds to play before Getty added a free throw with four seconds left to restore a five-point margin. Tara Lapetina's basket at the buzzer closed the scoring for the day.
Getty was the lone player to score in double figures for the Wildcats, who for the second straight game received all of their scoring from just six different players. Getty finished 5-of-7 from the field, 3-of-4 on three-pointers and 2-of-4 at the free throw line. Dougherty and redshirt freshman guard Jesse Carey (Chalfont, Pa.) scored eight points apiece for Villanova and junior center Shannon Elliott (Wilmington, Del.) led the team with a career-high six rebounds.
Ashley Gale had a game-high 19 points to lead La Salle on the day. Leading scorer Morgan Robertson was limited to just 2-of-11 shooting with four points and three rebounds by the Wildcat defense.
Villanova owns a 30-9 edge in the all-time series against the Explorers, though the teams have split the past four meetings. This was the second straight win at Tom Gola Arena for the Wildcats, while La Salle has won each of the last two games played at the Pavilion.
"[Head coach Harry Perretta] always gets nervous with this game, just because their coach has been coaching against him for so long and knows our system really well," Dougherty said. "He tries to scare us and tell us how good they are that we have to be ready. I think there is always a little extra pressure when we get ready for La Salle."
