Villanova is routed by UConn again, but this time the NCAA tournament awaits

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — For the third time in her six seasons as Villanova’s women’s basketball coach, Denise Dillon faced a subject that might be meant as a compliment, but doesn’t always feel like it.

What does it mean to be the second-best team in the Big East?

No, the fleeting dream of a conference title game upset of mighty Connecticut did not come true. The Huskies raced to a 23-11 lead in the first quarter, pushed it to 49-23 at halftime, and rolled from there to a 90-51 final score.

“We didn’t make shots,” Wildcats coach Denise Dillon said afterward. “You make shots early, and we just mentioned how in yesterday’s game [the semifinal win over Seton Hall], we came out hitting early. You feel good, at least you take that first punch. Today it was the complete opposite.”

Jasmine Bascoe scored 14 points, but shot 5-for-19 from the field, 1-for-8 from three-point range, and had four turnovers. Brynn McCurry, the leading scorer in the semifinal win over Seton Hall, was held to just 1-for-4 shooting from the floor. Kennedy Henry, who joined Bascoe on the all-tournament team, shot 4-for-15, 1-for-9 from beyond the arc.

“They’re a good team and we were just reminding each other that we’re doing this for each other, we’re sticking together throughout whatever happens,” Bascoe said afterward. “So, yeah, maybe our start wasn’t as good as we wanted, but there’s no going back in time. We’re just going to adjust, we’re just going to keep playing. That’s what we tried to do today.”

UConn, meanwhile, was led by its stars. Azzi Fudd had 19 points and three steals, and Sarah Strong tallied 18 points and eight rebounds.

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Dillon and her players knew they needed to play all four quarters like they did the first two at home last month, when they shocked the Huskies with a 40-37 halftime lead. But they also knew it would take even more, since round three took place at one of UConn’s homes away from home.

It didn’t happen.

The good news is Villanova is heading to the NCAA tournament, just as it happened when the Wildcats were second-best in 2022 and 2023. Those were Maddy Siegrist’s last two years on the Main Line, culminating with the electric run to the Sweet 16 in the latter season.

“Today, you want to feel this, and we said that to the team,” Dillon said. “You’ve got to recognize what it takes to be on the other side, to win this championship. At the same time, our group did a tremendous job this year. … We did what we needed to do to build that resume, and took care of business in the Big East as well.”

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That resume includes road wins at two teams that won their conference tournaments, James Madison and a West Virginia squad that’s now No. 12 in the country.

“You look at our record [at] 25-7, three of those losses coming to the No. 1 team in the nation,” Dillon said. “I’m really proud of this group and their growth and willingness to just get better and continue to battle. So we’re excited for next Sunday to see where we’re being sent, and we’re going to get better this week to be prepared for that.”

Two of the other losses were at home to mid-majors that no team wants to see this month, Princeton and Fairfield. Here’s hoping Villanova gets credit from the selection committee for proper scheduling. The AP poll voters have certainly given some: the Tigers are No. 23 in the nation, the Stags are just outside as the unofficial No. 27, and Villanova is No. 28.

If we extend the comparison to Siegrist’s era, that group earned a No. 11 seed in her first trip to the big dance. This season’s squad was No. 34 in the NET rating as of Monday night, and ESPN projects it as a No. 8 seed — a compliment until you have to face a No. 1 afterward.

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Now it’s Bascoe’s team, and she’s just a sophomore. There’s an even bigger runway in front of her if Villanova can keep her. (That’s a conversation for another day, but it feels like it’s always there in the modern college game.)

“We don’t want our season to end, and we’re ready,” she said. “No matter where we go, who we play, we’re sticking together, we’re playing as hard as we can. And so we’re going to take this game and use it to instill some grit in us, because we don’t want our season to end any sooner than it has to.”

Keep the nerves steady and hit shots, and that first game will be there to take. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened Monday, and the rest felt inevitable.

“We’ve improved so much this whole year, starting from the summer, and we’ve just wanted to keep going as long as we could,” Bascoe. “And, yeah, it [stinks] that we lost, but we put ourselves in a good position this year, and we can be proud of that.”

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So, again, what does it mean to be the second-best team in the Big East?

After Dillon and Bascoe left the podium, someone came along who always has a good answer. Geno Auriemma is once again king of the hill, with a 34-0 team standing No. 1 in the nation. But he keeps a soft spot for Villanova in his Norristown-bred heart.

“Villanova has had to win a lot of games,” he said. “And losing to us, when you see some of the scores in the [big] conference tournaments — they’re a really, really good team. And I don’t know that there’s anybody I respect more in our conference than Denise and Joe [Mullaney, the associate head coach, and the entire Villanova program, and it’s a shame that [they’re] not given the benefit of the doubt like some other places are.”

He alluded to those other places when he added that he hopes the Wildcats draw “one of those 7-10 teams that might get in the tournament,” as in a team with a bad conference record but a big conference name.

“I’ll go pay to watch that game,” he said with his perennial wit.

Alas, he’ll be busy, but perhaps the selection committee will listen to him, too.