Feb. 8, 2005

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VILLANOVA, Pa.--Women's Basketball Game Notes for Wednesday night's game between Villanova (12-8, 5-4 Big East) and Syracuse (11-10, 3-7 Big East). Game time from The Pavilion is set for 7:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: The Wildcats are coming off a 53-50 home loss to Seton Hall on Saturday, Feb. 5. Seton Hall controlled the game early, racing to an 18-7 lead. Villanova would shoot just 26.7 percent in the first half and trail 28-18 at halftime. The Pirates scored the first six points of the second half to lead 34-18 at the 17:31 mark. Villanova would battle back and cut the Pirate advantage to one at 51-50 with 20 seconds left in regulation. After two Seton Hall free throws, Wildcat junior Courtney Roantree missed a three-point field goal at the buzzer giving the Pirates the 53-50 victory. The Wildcats were paced in the loss by sophomore Jackie Adamshick who netted a game-high 26 points to go with eight rebounds and junior Kate Dessart Mager who had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Hall was led by Monique Blake who had 18 points and Ashley Bush who registered 11 points and 15 rebounds. For the game, Villanova shot 32.3 percent from the floor (20-of-62), 26.1 percent from three-point range (6-of-23) and 57.1 percent from the foul line (4-of-7), while Seton Hall was 17-of-40 from the field (42.5%), 0-for-1 from three-point range and 19-of-24 from the charity stripe (79.2%). Seton Hall out-rebounded the Wildcats, 38-31. Villanova committed just five turnovers for the game, while the Pirates were charged with 11 turnovers.

QUICK TURNAROUND: Villanova and Syracuse will be playing for the second time in 11 days when the two teams meet at The Pavilion on Wednesday, Feb. 9. In the first game on Saturday, Jan. 29, the Orangewomen tallied a 45-42 win. Villanova led 42-39 with 5:17 to play in regulation, but failed to score the rest of the game. Syracuse would tally the last six points of the contest to earn the win. In the win, the Orange were led by freshman Vaida Sipaviciute with 21 points and senior Chineze Nwagbo who had 11 points. Jackie Adamshick led the Wildcats with 12 points, while Jennifer Hilgenberg added 10.

POINT PRODUCER: In Villanova's 53-50 loss to Seton Hall on Saturday, Feb. 5, Wildcat sophomore forward Jackie Adamshick accounted for 52 percent of the team's scoring by registering 26 of Villanova's 50 points. The 26 point effort is a season-high for Adamshick and is one off her career-best of 27. Adamshick scored 11 of Villanova's 18 first half points. Her 26-point effort included 11-of-25 from the field, 3-of-9 from three-point range and 1-of-2 from the foul line. This was her fifth 20-point game of the season and sixth of her career.

DEFEND THE ARC: Playing three-point defense has been a strength of the Villanova Wildcats this season. After 20 games, Wildcat opponents are averaging just 2.8 made three-point field goals per game as they are shooting just 30.8 percent from three-point range (56-of-182). In last Saturday's game versus Seton Hall, the Pirates managed to attempt just one three-point field goal and were 0-for-1 from long distance.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: Villanova enters play versus Syracuse ranked third in the Big East Conference in scoring defense at 54.6 points per game. In 20 games this year, the Wildcats have held 13 opponents under 60 points and six opponents under 50 points.

SEEING DOUBLE: Junior forward Kate Dessart Mager recorded the first double-double of her collegiate career in last Saturday's loss to Seton Hall. In 28 minutes of action, Dessart Mager had 10 points and 10 rebounds. The 10 rebounds marks her third double figure rebounding game of the season. This also represents Villanova's second double-double of the season. Sophomore Jackie Adamshick was credited with the first one when she registered 15 points and 11 rebounds at Saint Joseph's on Dec. 11, 2004.

SHOOTING STAR: Villanova continues to be led in shooting percentage by junior forward Kate Dessart Mager. Entering play versus Syracuse on Wednesday, Feb. 9, Dessart Mager is shooting 60.0 percent from the field (75-of-125). In addition to leading the team in shooting, she is second on the team in rebounding at 4.4 rebounds per game and third in scoring at 9.2 points per contest.

MILESTONE VICTORY: Villanova University head women's basketball coach Harry Perretta tallied his 500th career win in a 70-49 victory at Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Feb. 2. With the victory, Perretta becomes the 26th women's basketball coach in NCAA history to reach the 500 win plateau. Currently in his 27-year as the Wildcat mentor, Perretta owns a 500-277 record. His 500 victories currently rank him 21st on the winningest active collegiate coaching list.

STREAKING TO A HALT: Saturday's loss to Seton Hall snapped a streak of 21 consecutive wins in the month of February. The streak began with a victory at Rutgers on Feb. 9, 2002. After winning the final six February games of the 2001-02 season, the `Cats went 7-0 in February in both 2002-03 and 2003-04 and 1-0 this year before falling to Seton Hall.

FRIENDLY CONFINES: Villanova will host Syracuse at The Pavilion on Wednesday, Feb. 9. In their last 35 home games, Villanova is an impressive 31-4. One of the four losses came in the team's last outing when Seton Hall tallied a 53-50 win on Villanova's home court.

FREE THROW FORTUNES: Over the last five games, Villanova is an impressive 29-of-337 (78.3%) from the free throw line. For the year, Villanova is 176-of-246 from the foul line for 71.5 percent.

THE SUEZ FACTOR: When Wildcat junior forward Liad Suez scores double figures, Villanova's chances for success are pretty good. Suez has reached the double figure scoring mark in 34 career games and in those 34 contests, Villanova is 28-6. On the contrary, the Wildcats are 7-8 when she does not score double figures. This season, the team is 10-4 when she has double figures and 2-4 when she does not.

TRAINING ROOM REPORT: Starting junior guard Jenna Viani was lost for the year when she she suffered a season-ending knee injury in Villanova's 58-52 win over West Virginia on January 23. Viani started all 17 games this year and averaged 5.8 points per game, 2.4 assists per contest and 2.4 rebounds per contest. She is expected to be at 100 percent for the 2005-06 season.

LEADING THE WAY: Wildcat junior point guard Betsy McManus has been outstanding all season long at taking care of the basketball. In her last 351 minutes played, McManus has turned the ball over just eight times. For the season, she has recorded 62 assists and just 17 turnovers for a 3.6:1 assist to turnover ratio. For the year, McManus is currently averaging 4.3 points per game, 3.1 assists per contest, and 0.9 steals per game. Due to the injury to starting point guard Jenna Viani, McManus has started the last three games at the lead guard spot and is expected to remain there for the remainder of the season.

CLOSE TO PERFECTION: Junior guard Betsy McManus is one free throw away from perfection. Entering play versus Syracuse on Wednesday, Feb. 9, McManus is 19-of-20 from the foul line (95.0%). Her lone miss came in the George Washington contest on Dec. 1. Since the miss, McManus has made 10 consecutive free throws.

THE MAGIC OF 70: When Villanova scores 70 points in a game, it is a good bet that the Wildcats will have a great deal of success. Dating back to the 2000-01 season, Villanova is 38-1 when scoring 70 or more points, including a perfect 5-0 this season. The lone loss was an 81-70 setback to Penn State in the 2000 season opener. The Wildcats are also 76-7 since 2000-01 when scoring 60 or more points. However, the flip side of that statistic is also true. Although Villanova's defense has allowed an opponent 70 points just seven times in the last 113 games dating back to 2001-02, the Wildcats are 0-7 in those games, including losses this season to Kansas State (75-63), Boston College (77-63) and Connecticut (73-57).

TRIPLE THREAT: Entering play versus Syracuse on Wednesday, Feb. 9, Villanova has made at least one three-point field goal in 230 of its last 231 games. The Wildcats are currently 124-of-366 from three-point range this season for 33.9 percent.

THE GOOD HANDS PEOPLE: As is the case with most Harry Perretta coached teams, the 2004-05 Wildcats have done a good job of taking care of the basketball. After 20 games, Villanova leads the country in fewest turnovers per game at 9.6 per contest. In nine of the 20 contests, Villanova has committed single digit turnovers. The Wildcats have led the nation in fewest turnovers per game in two of the last three years, including last season with a 9.2 per game average.

PHILLY'S FINEST: Entering play versus Seton Hall on Saturday, Feb. 5, Villanova head coach Harry Perretta has 500 career wins to his credit. The 500 victories are the most wins in the history of Philadelphia Big Five basketball for both men and women. Current Temple men's coach John Chaney is second with 493 wins. Former Villanova men's mentor Al Severance is third on the list with 417 victories, followed by former Temple men's coach Harry Litwack with 373 and former Villanova men's coach Rollie Massimino with 357.
NOTE: The win totals only represent victories at a Big Five school.

FIRST TEAM DISTINCTION: Junior forward Liad Suez was named to the preseason All-Big East first team. The team was selected by a vote of the league head coaches. As a sophomore last year, Suez earned third team All-League distinction after averaging 13.3 ppg., 3.9 rpg., and 2.2 apg. Suez was joined on the preseason first team by Jacqueline Batteast (Notre Dame), Jessalyn Deveny (Boston College), Yolanda Paige (WVU), Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers), Ann Strother (Connecticut) and Barbara Turner (Connecticut). After 20 games this season, Suez is averaging 13.2 points per game and is shooting 41.9 percent from the field (96-of-229) and 36.7 percent from three-point range (36-of-98).