Louin, Quinn get to end on high note in Big Dance
RADNOR » A roar went up in the O’Dea Terrace in the Talley Athletic Center, where the Villanova women’s basketball team gathered with family and friends to watch the NCAA tournament selection show Monday.
No one had bigger smiles or celebrated more that Alex Louin and Megan Quinn, the two seniors in Harry Perretta’s rotation.
It didn’t matter that the Wildcats (22-8) were seeded ninth in the Spokane Region or that a showdown with former Big East foe and top-seeded Notre Dame in South Bend loomed in the second round. Louin and Quinn were not going to go their entire careers without playing in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s a perfect conclusion to a great career here, and we hope to make the most of it,” Louin said.
While making the NCAA tournament has been a rite of passage for the men’s team, this is the first time the women’s squad has been to the Big Dance since 2013.
“We are ecstatic,” said Quinn, a graduate of Episcopal Academy and a twotime Player of the Year. “We couldn’t have asked for a better wish. And it’s a dream come true, too. I’ve always wanted to play at Notre Dame, and to bring the team there is so special.”
The Wildcats will take on eighth-seeded South Dakota State (26-6) in the second game of a doubleheader Friday night at Purcell Pavilion (7:30, ESPN2). The host Irish (29-3) play Cal State-Northridge (1915) in the opener at 5. The winners meet Sunday for a berth in the Sweet 16.
“I’m so happy for the seniors,” Perretta said. “We had some adversity. Four years ago we had two start- ers hurt and we started 3-10. Three years ago we had our best player (Caroline Coyer) hurt with three games to go and we just missed it, and we just missed it the year we had the two injuries.
“Last year, we were just too young and inexperienced. That run to the final four of the NIT really helped this team mature. This year it paid off because we won a lot of those games we lost last year.”
The Wildcats won eight games by six points or fewer. They also lost four games within that margin. Villanova won its first 10 games and 14 of its first 16 and was in the Associated Press top 25 for a few weeks for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
“I’ve seen this team grow a lot,” Perretta said. “I saw them grow last year at the end of the season and kept on going into this season and wound up with an NCAA tournament.”
Villanova’s reward is a date with a South Dakota State team that won the Summit League tournament for the eighth time in 10 years. The Jackrabbits have won four in a row and 10 of their last 11.
“I just know that they shoot the ball extremely well and they’re mobile,” Perretta said. “They like to push the ball. That’s really all I know about them, but those teams in the Midwest are better than people think they are.”
As far as where the Wildcats are seeded, Perretta wasn’t surprised or concerned. The Wildcats are in the tournament, and that’s all that matters.
“People say the 8-9 game is a death sentence in women’s basketball,” Perretta said. “I look at it a little differently. I see it as going to a wedding. You see your name, you go sit where they tell you to sit and that’s it. They tell us who to play. We show up to play and that’s the end of the story.”