Villanova women win their basketball opener as a freshman leads the way

When Villanova’s women’s basketball team tipped off its season opener Sunday at Finneran Pavilion, it didn’t need any reminders that Lucy Olsen and Christina Dalce weren’t around anymore.

The Wildcats got them anyway. Twelve of them, to be precise: the number of shots they missed to open the first quarter against Wake Forest before finally scoring after 7 minutes, 14 seconds of play.

Of course, narratives are as good for breaking as they are for making. Even while not making shots, Villanova played strong defense. At halftime their deficit was just two points.

Late in the third quarter, the hosts finally clawed their way to the lead, and once they had that momentum, they didn’t give it up. The Wildcats won, 64-56, so as often happens early in the season, they can forget about how they got there.

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“Even when things weren’t going our way early with making shots, [with] the recognition of getting the right shots, they just showed what they’re capable of doing,” Villanova coach Denise Dillon said. “We settled in defensively and figured the offense would come eventually. We were getting the right shots, and it always has to be consistent on that defensive end.”

The defensive effort turned into 10 steals, six blocks, and limiting Wake Forest to 22-of-55 shooting from the floor — 2-of-11 from three-point range.

Once the Wildcats’ shots started falling, the top scorers were two newcomers. Jasmine Bascoe, a freshman guard, had 18 points. Guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy, a graduate transfer from Holy Cross, scored 17 points — 15 of them in the second half. Maddie Webber, a returnee from last year’s team, had 10 points and five rebounds.

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“Obviously, shots weren’t dropping, but we all had trust in each other that, you know what, once we see the ball in the basket, we’re going to have faith in everybody else that we’re just going to keep rolling,” Power-Cassidy said. “All my team, you know, they put me in good positions and trusted me to hit shots, and I have trust in them the exact same way.”

When Bascoe’s shots started falling, she didn’t look the part of a 5-foot-7 player in her first college game. Then again, this wasn’t her first time on a major basketball stage. The Toronto-area native helped Canada win a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, and silvers at the 2023 and 2024 Under-18 Americas Cups.

“She’s an ideal point guard in the sense of her ability as a scoring point guard, but just her maturity as a freshman — she’s played a lot of big games,” Dillon said. “Playing for her national team [with] Canada has given her that experience to understand that every game is going to be close, every game’s going to be impactful, and teams are going to come out and try and pressure.”

Villanova was one of the last in the country to tip off its campaign, six days after the season’s official start. That would be long enough for any team to wait, but especially one with so much roster change.

“As a coach, you really do love practice — you want to have as many practices as possible,” Dillon quipped. “They were definitely less [amused].”

Perhaps now that can be forgotten about, too.

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