Villanova beats St. Joseph’s on Maddie Burke’s trey with 4.7 seconds left

Jasmine Bascoe passed the ball to Maddie Burke, who let it fly for a three-point jumper to push Villanova ahead of St. Joseph’s with 4.7 seconds to play. The Hawks’ season faded away from there Sunday at Hagan Arena.

With a 62-60 loss in the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, the Hawks saw their season end at the hands of the same team that ended it last season, their Big 5 rival from just a few miles down Lancaster Avenue.

Bascoe led Villanova (20-14) with 15 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Burke finished with 11 points and two steals for the Wildcats, who advanced to play Portland on Thursday at a site to be determined. Portland beat Seton Hall, 61-55, on Sunday.

It marked more than just the end of a season for St. Joe’s. It marked the end of an era, led by seniors Talya Brugler and Mackenzie Smith.

“They have really put their footprint on this program from a culture standpoint,” coach Cindy Griffin said. “They come in every day with no agenda. The agenda is to get better every day and to play with and for each other. They are very steady kids that have a very competitive way about them, but their work ethic is off the charts.”

Griffin noted the improvements the program has made throughout their four years. The Hawks won 13 games in their freshman year, 20 in their sophomore year, 28 last year, and 24 this year.

“This year, one step further, we got to the [Atlantic 10] championship game,” Griffin said. “It wasn’t obviously, the outcome that we wanted, but they just kept getting this program further and further, and I’ll be forever grateful for them.”

Griffin added: “Add Laura [Ziegler] to that mix, and that just elevated our whole program from a skill standpoint, but even from a culture standpoint, and I will be forever in debt.”

Ziegler finished the game with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Brugler added 18 points. Ziegler expects it will take a few days to get over this defeat. Usually, she has a “midnight rule” in place for getting over losses.

“It just hurts a lot right now and it hurts a lot because you want to do it for the people around you. It’s for the seniors,” Ziegler said. “You really want to do it for who’s been here for four years working really hard, and as Coach said, just, you know, creating the culture to what it is now.”

The Hawks (24-10) struggled from long range against Villanova, going 1-for-10 on three-pointers, but they adapted, putting up 40 points in the paint, twice as many as Villanova.

It wasn’t enough to make up for Villanova making 11 of 26 three-pointers, a 42.3% clip.

After they knocked out their Big 5 rivals for the second year in a row, the feeling was “unbelievable” for the Wildcats, coach Denise Dillon said. Villanova also topped St. Joe’s during the regular season to advance to the Big 5 Classic championship game.

“I think the rivalry itself is so great, and then when you have a chance to face them late and know how much they improved and you improved, it’s interesting to see where you were from December till now,” Dillon said. “So, a much different game, super excited it’s the same result.”

The Hawks and the Wildcats were tied six times in the game. There were eight lead changes.

“Basketball is a funny game,” Griffin said. “I mean, you can be as high as one day and as low as the next day, and it’s a great game. But days like today, it’s gut-wrenching. If we didn’t invest so much, it wouldn’t hurt so bad.

“The more you invest, the more you’re going to get out of it, but also it’s going to be painful, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, except for winning the game. But we’re going to go hard or we’re going to go home. So that’s our mentality.”