Villanova suffers first loss of the season against No. 21 Baylor in Gulf Coast Showcase semifinal
In a 75-70 defeat, the Wildcats foul trouble gave Baylor an advantage as they sealed their win at the free throw line.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/4Z36WG37GRHRNFBY2UIW5XJ5AM.jpg)
Following a red-hot offensive performance in Friday’s win over Belmont, Villanova went ice-cold on Saturday afternoon, falling to No. 21 Baylor, 75-70, in the semifinal round of the Gulf Coast Showcase, the Wildcats’ first loss of the season.
Statistical leaders
The Wildcats (5-1) were led by senior forward Maddy Siegrist, who finished with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds and four steals.
Sophomore guard Lucy Olsen added 18 points while junior Maddie Burke chipped in nine points on three three-pointers. Sophomore Christina Dalce came up big with 12 rebounds and five blocks, despite going down in the opening minutes with an eye injury.
Baylor (5-1) had five players in double figures, led by Caitlin Bickle with 18 points and 12 rebounds, in addition to contributions from Jaden Owens (17 points) and Sarah Andrews (13 points).
» READ MORE: Villanova’s Maddie Burke ‘excited to be here’ after transferring back home from Penn State
What we saw
The Top-25 matchup did not disappoint, coming down to the final minute. Both teams held an eight-point advantage at one point, Villanova in the first quarter, Baylor in the third.
Villanova’s early lead allowed for some cushion, particularly when Siegrist went to the bench with two fouls in the second quarter. But the senior wasn’t the only player, who got into early foul trouble, as the Wildcats compiled 30 personal fouls.
Baylor found some momentum by the end of the second quarter, taking a four-point lead into halftime after a layup at the buzzer from Bickle.
The Bears retained their advantage in the third quarter, but the Wildcats, fueled by Siegrist, slowly chipped away. She entered the final period with 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting, but found her rhythm, and scored 10 points in the fourth.
Up next
Villanova will play in the third-place game against the loser of Michigan and South Florida. The Wildcats lost to the Wolverines in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year and have not faced the Bulls since 2014, when they lost in a one-point thriller.
In other City 6 action
Clark Slajchert scored 22 of his game-high 33 points in the second half as Penn took a close game at halftime and turned it into a comfortable 81-69 victory over Colgate in the Cathedral Classic on Saturday at the Palestra.
Jordan Dingle added 26 points, and Max Martz 12 for the Quakers (4-4).
Penn shot 60% from the field, including 46% from three-point land on 11-of-24 shooting.
Colgate (4-4) was led by Keegan Records with 17 and Chandler Baker with 14.
Penn will face Delaware at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.