Dec. 20, 2009
Redshirt freshman forward Emily Suhey (Boalsburg, Pa.) drained a pair of three-pointers during a 13-3 run in the second half and Villanova (7-2, 3-0 Big Five) posted its second straight win over Temple (9-2, 0-1 Big Five) on Sunday afternoon in a low-scoring, 44-32 affair at the Liacouras Center. The Wildcats moved to within one victory of claiming their first Big Five title since 2003-04.
Villanova led 35-26 with 5:37 left after the second of Suhey's three-pointers and later sealed the outcome with six free throws in the final 1:15 of the game. There were four ties and seven lead changes in the back-and-forth contest, which all along was likely to be won by the first team to put together any kind of offensive run.
Redshirt freshman forward Laura Sweeney (Marlton, N.J.) made a layup off an inbounds pass from senior guard Tia Grant (Lido Beach, N.Y.) with 8:57 to play to give the Wildcats the lead for good at 24-23 and start the game-changing run. Suhey drained a three-pointer on the next possession to make the score 27-23, at the time the largest lead of the game for Villanova.
Shaqwedia Wallace answered Suhey with a three-pointer of her own to make the score 27-26 with 7:44 to play but the Wildcats came back with eight unanswered points on a layup by Sweeney and three-pointers by Grant and Suhey. Temple never got closer than five points in the waning minutes of the game.
Sweeney scored a game-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting for Villanova and senior guard Maria Getty (Centerville, Ohio) chipped in 11 points and four assists, with her points coming on a pair of three-pointers and 5-of-6 free throw shooting. All five of her free throws came in the final 75 seconds of the contest as the Wildcats wrapped up their first road win against the Owls since 2003.
Villanova pulled down a season-high 42 rebounds and owned a 42-39 edge on the glass. Suhey and senior guard Kyle Dougherty (Sayre, Pa.) had six rebounds apiece and three other players had five boards for the Wildcats. Suhey's eight points and six caroms were both season highs for the first-year forward.
Steady defense by Villanova limited Temple to just 19 percent shooting (11-of-58) in the game. The Owls led 16-11 at halftime but were just 5-of-30 (.167) from the field in the second half. Wallace led Temple with just seven points and six rebounds, while Marli Bennett tallied five points and nine boards.
Grant added nine points on 3-of-8 shooting for the Wildcats.
