Villanova women thwart Penn's Big 5 hopes

PENN's WOMEN HAD come into last night's Big 5 finale against Villanova with high hopes after winning four of their previous five games and grabbing at least a share of their first-ever women's Big 5 championship.

The Quakers had a chance to clinch the title outright with a victory.

Harry Perretta's Wildcats squad scrapped those plans, earning the right to scribble their names alongside Penn's on this year's trophy after a 70-44 rout gave the 'Cats their 15th Big 5 title.

Penn and Villanova will each finish at 3-1 in Big 5 play. Saint Joseph's has a chance to grab a claim of the Big 5 title; the Hawks are 2-1 against its city rivals, with only a Feb. 4 contest with La Salle remaining.

'Nova barraged the Quakers with three-point attempts from the opening tipoff, going 3-for-3 from deep within the game's first 4 minutes to go up, 11-2, before most fans had even reached their seats at the Palestra. That quickly escalated to a 39-27 halftime lead behind 7-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Wildcats finished the blowout win with absurd 50.0/42.9/75.0 shooting percent splits from the field, three-point range and the free throw line, respectively

Perretta insisted that despite their shiny shooting numbers, the Wildcats' strategy wasn't merely to beat Penn with threes.

"We were just going to take whatever shot presented itself, and they were letting us get threes," he said.

"We didn't come in with a game plan of just shooting threes. We came in with a game plan of, 'Hey, if we can get the ball inside, we'll get it inside. If not and the three-pointer's open, you got to shoot it.' We shoot the three relatively well [35 percent for the season]."

Chief among those 'Nova players who excelled from deep was forward Kavunaa Edwards, who nailed all four of her first-half threes on her way to 16 points for the evening. Edwards credited the Wildcats' screen-and-motion-heavy offensive attack for their shooting success.

"We know how to move really well," she said. "Without the ball, we're just constantly moving on offense, trying to get the open look, looking for a turnaround jump shot. That's what we're good at."

Villanova's intense focus from the game's first minutes had as much to do with the Wildcats' motivation to grab the sole Big 5 championship away from the Quakers as it did with their offensive execution.

"They really wanted a piece of that championship," Perretta said. " . . . We were injured earlier in the year. They felt like we didn't really have a clear-cut chance at it."

Taylor Holeman, who scored a game- and career-high 20 points in only 17 minutes off the bench, echoed Perretta's sentiments.

"I think we almost treat it like another conference game, with the tradition of the Big 5," she said. "Everyone's a good team, and we have to play hard every single time we play the Big 5.

"It means something to be a part of the Big 5. It means a lot to us to be a part of this Philadelphia tradition."