Wildcats are still rolling in WNIT with win over Florida

The Villanova women’s basketball team may not have received an atlarge bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the Wildcats are still playing.

Sophomore Maddy Siegrist had another big game Saturday night as the Wildcats rolled past Florida, 7757, in the second round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C.

The win sends Villanova (17-6) into Monday’s Charlotte Regional final against Delaware, an 87-74 winner over Clemson. The winner of that game advances to the NIT final four, which will be held Friday and next Sunday in Memphis.

Siegrist followed up her 32-point performance in Friday’s 78-51 first-round romp over Massachusetts with another monster effort. She finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and three steals in 35 minutes against the Gators (12-14).

With her 11 rebounds Siegrist joined Shelly Pennefather (570) and Lisa Angelotti (512) as the only players in program history to grab 500 rebounds in two seasons. Siegrist has 505 rebounds in her first two seasons on the Main Line. Pennefather and Angelotti also did it in their first two seasons.

Brianna Herlihy backed Siegrist with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The Wildcats had 19 assists on 27 baskets and also forced 22 turnovers while coughing it up just four times. Villanova scored 20 points off turnovers and 42 points in the paint.

Bella Runyan pitched in with 16 points off the bench for the Wildcats. Lior Garzon had eight points after a 13-point performance in the victory over UMass.

Men’s Basketball

Penn Wood grad Pernell Ghee scored 20 points, handed out four assists, blocked three shots, grabbed three rebounds and made two steals to lift Delaware Valley to a 75-71 victory over Widener in the season finale for both teams Friday night.

Matt Paulus hit two free throws with three seconds left to seal the win for the Aggies (5-5).

Kenny Lewis paced four Widener players in double figures with 18 points and eight rebounds. A.J. Sawyers pitched in with 12 points and Pat Holden and Cortland Johnson added 10 points each for the Pride (4-7).

STEVENSON 65, EASTERN 61 » McKale Williams drained a pair of free throws with three seconds left to secure the win for the Mustangs. Williams led Stevenson (5-6) with 20 points and eight rebounds.

Sam Gallardo had 18 points and William Blet added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Eagles (0-9).

Football

Villanova’s bye week has been extended by a week. The Wildcats were supposed to host New Hampshire this Saturday but that game was postponed due to COVID-19 related issues within the New Hampshire program, the Colonial Athletic Conference announced.

A decision on rescheduling the game will come later. This is the fourth game in the league’s abbreviated spring season that had to be postponed and the second for New Hampshire. Its game with Delaware this weekend was also postponed.

Unless a replacement game can be found Villanova will be off for two weeks. The Wildcats had a bye this weekend after dropping a 4037 overtime decision to Rhode Island last week.