No. 25 DePaul Women Fall To Villanova In Overtime
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Madison Siegrist scored 10 of her 30 points in overtime to lead Villanova to a 78-72 win over No. 25 DePaul on Saturday and into the Big East tournament semifinals for the first time since 2015.
Fifth-seeded Villanova (15-5) now has the daunting task of taking on top-ranked Connecticut in a Sunday matchup.
It looked like the Wildcats might not get that opportunity after fourth-seeded and three-time defending Big East tournament champion DePaul (14-8), trailing by 10 after three quarters, outscored Villanova 19-9 in the fourth quarter behind 10 points from Deja Church. Church's two free throws tied the game at 64-all, but she couldn't finish a layup after driving the baseline as time ran out.
DePaul got the first two points of overtime but Siegrist then went on a tear in the final three minutes with a 3-pointer, a turnaround jumper in the paint and five free throws, her final two with 5.4 seconds left ensuring the win.
Siegrist, who averages a double-double and was the top scorer and rebounder during the regular season in the Big East, made 11 of 19 shots and grabbed 11 rebounds. She scored 31 points in a 94-82 loss to DePaul in the teams' only regular-season meeting.
After DePaul took a 22-12 first-quarter lead, Brianna Herlihy hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give Villanova a 37-36 edge. Villanova outscored DePaul 15-2 over the final 6:30 of the third quarter to go up 55-45.
Herlihy finished with 19 points, including the final go-ahead basket in overtime, and Sarah Mortensen 13 for the Wildcats.
Church scored 19 points and Sonya Morris, back after missing the Blue Demons' previous game, added 16 with nine rebounds. Jorie Allen added 11 points and Lexie Held 10. Held, who averaged nearly 17 points coming in, was 3-of-16 shooting. DePaul lost three of its last four regular-season games, all to unranked teams, while shooting 39%. It shot 37% Saturday.
(© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)