Villanova ‘turned up the heat’ in a massive comeback win over St. John’s

If the Finneran Pavilion crowd had been told that No. 25 Villanova would come away with a victory after trailing by 16 with 5:28 to play, the fans probably would have answered with disbelief.

Led by Maddy Siegrist’s 18 fourth-quarter points, Villanova came charging back, outscoring St. John’s, 25-7, in the final period to claim a 64-61 win.

“Extremely proud of the resilience that this group showed being down a good bit,” said head coach Denise Dillon following the Wildcats’ seventh straight victory. “St. John’s came out and showed their talent, but just thankful that we had a lot in the tank.”

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Siegrist finished with 32 points and seven rebounds to lead Villanova (16-3, 7-1 Big East). It marked her third consecutive 30-point game and eighth of the season.

Junior Maddie Burke finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from behind the arc, while Christina Dalce chipped in five points and 10 rebounds.

Jayla Everett finished with 18 points and five boards, while Kadaja Bailey and Unique Drake added 13 points each to lead St. John’s (14-3, 5-3). Rayven Peeples was the fourth St. John’s player in double figures with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

For the first 10 minutes of the game, the teams appeared to be evenly matched. But the Red Storm got hot at the same time the ‘Cats went cold. St. John’s outscored Villanova, 21-12, in the second quarter to take a 39-27 lead into the second half.

The third quarter was more of the same. Villanova couldn’t make a shot and was unable to find an answer for the Red Storm offense.

Entering the final 10 minutes, Villanova trailed, 54-39. Siegrist had just 14 points, and no other Wildcat was in double figures. They could feel the pressure building.

“You’d like to cut it to like five or eight going into the fourth; that’s just more doable,” Siegrist said. “We just had to know that you need to take it one possession at a time.”

Everything changed in the fourth quarter.

After St. John’s stretched the lead to 16, Villanova set up a full-court press. The Wildcats recorded eight steals in the quarter while forcing 13 turnovers. No specific adjustment, per se, just more energy and intensity.

“We just turned it up, turned up the heat,” Dillon said. “We were playing timidly defensively. ... They were the ones trying to preserve the lead, and we were just playing scramble basketball.”

A St. John’s team that was getting anything it wanted for the first three quarters suddenly couldn’t buy a basket. Villanova held the Red Storm to 23.1% shooting from the field in the fourth quarter, including 0-2 from distance.

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As the Wildcats started to make their way back into the game, the crowd, filled with local youth and high school basketball fans, started to feel the shift.

“It was so exciting, and it helped so much,” Siegrist said of the crowd’s energy. “This is my fifth year, and seeing how the crowd has grown over the years is exciting. I think especially in a game like that, it affects the other team more than it affects us.”

The Wildcats did not take the lead until the 41-second mark in the fourth, their first lead since the first quarter. Villanova only led St. John’s for a total of 2 minutes, 50 seconds.

Trailing by seven with 1:38 to play in the fourth, Burke came off the bench and drilled back-to-back triples to cut the Red Storm lead to 61-60 with just over a minute remaining. Siegrist and Dalce hit clutch free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

“That was great,” Dillon said of Burke’s threes. “All we kept saying, the coaches on the bench, was how we need someone to put the ball in the basket other than Maddy Siegrist. ... I think we’re trying to get these girls to understand that we’re a tougher matchup with multiple scorers.”

Villanova returns to action with another home game against Xavier (7-10, 0-8) on Tuesday (7 p.m., FloSports). The teams met earlier in January, and the Wildcats came away with a 77-49 victory.