Villanova Women Visit Butler In Search Of Seventh Straight Win

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- The Villanova women's basketball team will go for a seventh straight win tonight as they visit Butler in a key Big East game.

The Wildcats have really turned things around since a 3-7 start and head coach Harry Perretta says it has simply been a matter of getting some key players healthy.

"Emily Leer's a fifth-year senior (forward/center), she was out for the first (eight) games of the season," Perretta tells KYW Newsradio. "She's back now. She's given us a really tremendous offensive boost. The other kid is Katherine Coyer, who is a junior, who played a lot her freshman and sophomore year, she missed (five) games. So she's back now. That gives us another experienced player. So those two have really been the key so far."

Listen to the entire interview with Villanova's Harry Perretta:

Leer leads the Wildcats in scoring, pouring in 13.3 points per game while shooting 59% from the field.

Villanova is 4-1 in the Big East and that has them in a four-way tie for first. Butler is 4-2 in the conference (8-9 overall).

"They're another team like us," Perretta says. "They had some injuries early, they had some kids out and now they're getting healthy. They play very similar to us, they play a very good brand of basketball. Play good defense, work hard."

Last season Villanova swept its two match-ups with Butler.

Tonight's game in Indianapolis tips-off at 7:00pm.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.