Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
’Nova women crack Top 25 barrier
Villanova’s women’s basketball team received a nice surprise Monday. The Wildcats are ranked 25th in the latest Associated Press poll.
That’s the first time the Wildcats (5-0) have been ranked in the AP poll since the 2004-05 season, but not the first time Villanova has been ranked nationally since then. The Wildcats were in the Coaches poll for two weeks in the 201213 season.
“It’s great for the kids,” Villanova coach Harry Perretta said. “They’re really excited about it.”
The Wildcats are 5-0 for the first time since they began the 2013-14 season with seven straight wins and finished 23-9. The signature win was a 64-55 upset of then No. 11 Duke. The Wildcats followed that up with victories over James Madison and American to win the championship in the TD Banks Thanksgiving Classic at Vermont.
“I thought we had a chance to get in after we beat Duke,” Perretta said. “I knew we would receive some votes.”
The Wildcats won’t have to wait long to put their national ranking to the test. Villanova plays six of its next seven games on the road starting with a trip to Princeton (3-1) Wednesday night for a 5:30 showdown with the Tigers. The only home game in that stretch is Sunday’s Big 5 showdown with Saint Joseph’s (5-0).
Then it’s back on the road to take on Fairfield (15), Temple (4-2), La Salle (33), Creighton (3-3) and Providence (4-2).
“That’s going to be a good test for us,” Perretta said.
••• Meanwhile, the Villanova men (6-0) moved up to No. 4 in both polls. The team also announced it signed a home-an-home series with Kansas.
The Wildcats and Jayhawks will meet Dec. 15, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center and then at historic Allen Field House Dec. 21, 2019.
“We have great respect for Coach (Bill) Self and the Kansas program,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said in a statement released by the university. “The games we have played against Kansas have been some of the most memorable non-conference games in our time here. Every time we have faced Kansas it has made our team better and we know that will be the case when we meet them again.”
The Wildcats are 3-3 against the Jayhawks. Five of those meetings have come in the last 13 seasons and several have been epic battles. Villanova topped Kansas, 64-59, in the Elite Eight on its way to the national championship in 2016. The Wildcats also defeated the Jayhawks in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in 2013 and scored an 83-62 triumph at the Wells Fargo Center in 2005. Kansas scored a 72-57 victory over the Wildcats in the 2008 Sweet 16.
In other news, junior guard Jalen Brunson was named Big East Player of the Week for his performance in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas. The 6-3 junior averaged 19.7 points and four assists per game to earn MVP honors and lead the Wildcats to the title for the second time with wins over Western Kentucky, Tennessee and Northern Iowa.
It was fifth tournament title the Wildcats have won in November in the last five years.