Davis leads 'Nova past Women's Hoops

Villanova senior forward Katie Davis propelled the Wildcats to a 65-54 win over the Penn women's basketball team last night at the Palestra.

Davis blew up for 26 points on 7-for-15 shooting, including six three-pointers, five of which came in the second half.

While the Wildcats managed to earn their fifth straight win of the season and remain undefeated, they were not without a scare from the feisty Quakers.

The Red and Blue struggled at the outset, falling behind 13-8 in the first ten minutes of play.

However, in typical Penn fashion, the Red and Blue made a 15-7 run in the last six minutes of the half.

The Quakers were able to take control of the game by dictating the pace of play.

Penn coach Kelly Greenberg had stressed the importance of playing a high-paced game against the Wildcats and was impressed with her squad's ability to shift the momentum.

"I was really happy that our players were able to get the tempo going at times tonight," she said. "We played hard and smart with a lot of personality, which is something we talked a lot about before the game."

After the Quakers' late first half comeback, Penn carried a 27-25 lead into the halftime break.

Penn sophomore forward Katie Kilker led the charge for the Quakers in the first half, knocking down 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting.

The Quakers ended the half with the obvious advantage, having shot 66.7 percent from behind the arc, compared to Villanova's 23.1 percent on 3-for-13 three-pointers.

Things would change during the second half.

Both teams emerged from the haftime break a bit sluggish, trading turnovers for the opening two minutes.

The Wildcats, who were stone cold in the first half, warmed up behind Davis' shooting.

She knocked down three consecustive three-pointers, all within a minute of each other.

Greenberg was also aware of the spark that Davis' shooting provided for her teammates.

"The threes really hurt us a lot," she said. "They started feeling a little better about their confidence and started shooting more after that."

Villanova coach Harry Perretta echoed Greenberg's thoughts.

"The key to the game was that we finally began to make some threes," he said. "We go out initially and miss some shots, and kids lose their confidence.

"After that they don't want to shoot anymore. I just try to keep them calm and tell themwe have to keep shooting the ball, and we finally did."

Although the Wildcats rediscovered their shooting touch during the second half, they still had to contend with a determined Penn team.

Penn junior forward Jewel Clark came to life for the Quakers in the second half, after going 1-for-6 for two points before the intermission. Despite her slow start, Clark finished the game with 14 points, 17 rebounds and three assists.

Despite Clark's second half play, Villanova ultimately took control of the game in the final three minutes to pull away from the Quakers.

With the scored tied at 52 and an upset in the making, the Wildcats went to their bread and butter, slowing down the tempo and playing their deliberate style of offense.

Villanova earned two quick points with a minute and a half to play on a well executed inbounds play to Davis, which upped the Villanova lead to seven at 59-52.

At this point, it was just a matter of running out the clock for Villanova.

After the game, the Quakers focused on the things they had accomplished in the defeat.

"I told all our players that they should leave the locker room with their heads up," Greenberg said. "I thought for about four-to-six minutes in the beginning of the game and about four-to-six minutes at the end of the game we had mental lapses.

"They hit some big shots down the line and that was the difference."

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