Women's Hoops Suffers Big 5 Loss to Villanova, 57-40

Penn women's basketball was defeated, 57-40, at Villanova
in a Philadelphia Big 5 battle. Junior tri-captain Maria
DiDonato led the Quakers with nine points.

Dec. 4, 2003

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Women's hoops suffered a road loss to Villanova
in a Philadelphia Big 5 battle, 57-40. Maria DiDonato led the way
for the Quakers with nine points and Penn out rebounded the Wildcats
15-14 on the offensive glass.

The Quakers came into tonight's contest with Villanova knowing the
offense needed to hit on all cylinders. They performed valiantly
throughout the game but the Wildcats' offense proved to be too
much in the end.

Penn's Jennifer Fleischer paced the offense early, scoring its
first five points on a pair of field goals and a free throw.
She finished with eight points (3-of-7) and six boards. But
Villanova jumped out to an early 14-5 lead by the 10:51 mark,
not allowing another Penn field goal until Katie Kilker scored
on a lay-up with 9:45 to play in the first half. The Quakers held
the Wildcats without a field goal for four minutes midway through
the first half to pull within four, 14-10. It was the longest
scoring drought of the evening for Villanova.

Kilker, finishing with five offensive rebounds, and Jewel Clark
worked the glass all night for the Red and Blue, picking up eight
boards a piece.

Even though the Quakers did not shoot as well as they would have
liked in the first half, they found themselves down only 11 points,
28-17, heading into halftime. Six points off turnovers was one key
reason for the Wildcats first half lead, as well as Jana Rediger and
Jackie Adamshick scoring in double figures with 10 points each.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Penn found itself down
32-17. The Red and Blue scored five straight to pull within 10 points
at the 14:48 mark but that is the closest they would get the rest of
the game.

With just over seven minutes remaining, the Quakers closed the gap
to 43-31 thanks in part to three-point field goals from DiDonato and
Mikaelyn Austin. Austin's five points gives her 402 for her career.
The Wildcats took control again, outscoring Penn 14-9 the rest of
the way.

Adamshick led Villanova with 17 points, while Jenna Viani scored
13 and Rediger contributed with 12 points and five blocks.

The Quakers look to regroup as they head across town to face another
Big 5 rival, Temple, on Dec. 9. The Owls lead the series 29-11.
Tip-off at the Liacoras Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Written by Mat Kanan, associate director of athletic communications