Call it a win-win as Villanova and La Salle celebrated a pair of non-conference victories
The Explorers and Wildcats picked up their third victories of the season with Villanova the winners now of two straight.
Bella Runyan was simply a wall Holy Cross could not get around and was a major reason why Villanova left with a 63-53 win over the Crusaders in women’s hoops action on Tuesday night.
Lucy Olsen continued her streak of leading the team in points, this time with a game-high 14, but it was Runyan who scored 13 points alongside 13 rebounds that improved the Wildcats to 3-1 overall.
Freshman Maddie Webber had a strong outing as well for Villanova finishing with 13 points off the bench. Holy Cross (2-3) was led by a 14-point effort from Bronagh Power-Cassidy.
Villanova is off until Sunday when it heads on the road for a Big East-ACC matchup against Wake Forest (noon, ESPN+).
Behind Gabby Turco, La Salle dominates Rider
While the men fell to Duke, La Salle’s women did the dishing of points celebrating a 72-44 rout of Rider on the road. Junior guard Gabby Turco led the Explorers (3-2) with 16 points and senior guard McKayla Miller had 13 points off the bench.
La Salle led 36-17 going into halftime. Taylor Langan led Rider (2-3) with 13 points.
It’ll be a week before the Explorers see their next action in a Big 5 test at home against Penn next Wednesday (6 p.m., ESPN+).