Big East Media Day: Villanova Women Look to Build On Standout 2017-18 Season

Guru’s note: Other Big East highlights from Andy Lipton will be on the @womhoopsguru twitter account.

By Erin Kate Dolan @erinkatedolan

NEW YORK -  With the excitement over returning to their larger now renamed  Finneran Pavilion,  the Villanova Wildcats women’s basketball team returned to Madison Square Garden here Thursday for the annual excitement of Big East Media Day to discuss their upcoming season. 

Their previous one was impressive for coach Harry Perretta’s squad,  going 23-9 overall, finishing third in the  conference, earning its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2013 with an at-large selection, and cracking the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2004-05 after winning its first 10 games. 

An early highlight was the upset of nationally-ranked Duke in the smaller packed Jake Nevin Field House.

But Nova’s 2017-18 season ended in a 72-98 loss to Notre Dame, which then went on to win the National Championship Title off Arike Ogunbowale’s buzzer beater over Mississippi State. Two days  earlier she made a similar shot to bring  powerful Connecticut’s unbeaten run to another last second elimination, repeating their ouster as an unbeaten in the 2017 semifinals.

Nova’s senior guard/forward Jannah Tucker had a team high of 19 points against Notre Dame and commented here on the team moving forward from that game, “I definitely think knowing how we finished last year, and knowing we can continue to expand with that even though we are a different team, yet still kind of the same team at the same time, is really exciting.”

A threat from 3-point range, senior guard Adrianna Hahn elaborated, “Going back to last season, I think we should have won that game and I think it was in our hands so losing that game is a big motivator for us coming into this season.”

 Perretta, who  has now spent 40 seasons on the Main Line guiding the Wildcats, said the biggest difference between Villanova and other elite teams is sustaining 40 minutes of play.

 “When we play really well, we can really play with teams, but you know the difference is on the level we are at, we can’t sustain it for 40 minutes. And the elite teams can,” he explained.

Experience and stamina are going to be two factors that could potentially hinder the Wildcats this season. 

Villanova has the 3-point shooters with Hahn, Tucker, and junior Kelly Jekot. But the team lost their main centers, Alex Louin and Megan Quinn, who were both impactful in scoring and rebounds down low.

“One thing I want to note for them is that we didn’t just lose size, but Alex and Megan are both experienced players. So losing them we lost some experience and that is something we have to adjust, too,” said Tucker.  

With that said, players who have never played in a collegiate game may come off the bench this season. The only option for the team is to see how they adjust to a Division I level.   

“You know Mary (Gadeka, who was named Big East Sixth Woman of the Year) played well and she played off the bench and now we will see how she is starting and now the other spot will be filled by Grace Stant and Bridget Herlihy and we will see if they can make up for Alex’s scoring,” said Perretta. 

 

The loss of some of that experience is likely to be made up by freshman Mackenzie Gardler, a local and high school graduate sensation from Cardinal O’Hara High School. Her mother Katie was a star at Saint Joseph’s.

“She’s doing really well. Working hard. Brings something new and can shoot the ball really well and she knows the offense well,” said Adriana. 

The Wildcats are picked third in the Big East Women’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll behind Marquette and DePaul, who are tied at first. But the competitiveness of the league makes conference play unpredictable. 

Villanova beat Georgetown twice in the regular season and then Georgetown beat Nova in the tournament. And on the other hand, The Wildcats beat DePaul by 30 unexpected points in their first of two meetings, when they played   

“Anyone can beat anyone, which Harry (Perretta) touched on earlier. That is the exciting part about playing in the Big East. To know you have to come out and compete,” said Tucker. 

“Like Tuck said, anybody can beat anybody in this league which makes it so competitive. You have to bring it every night,” added Hahn.  

Gedaka was picked by the conference coaches on the Big East preseason squad. Her mother Lisa starred for Villanova and was the 1987 Big East player of the year as a senior.

The Wildcats have a competitive schedule, playing Princeton, Georgia, and Virginia Tech aside from their regular conference schedule. As always the Big Five is competitive because Philadelphia teams want to represent their city to the best of their ability. 

“The Big Five are always competitive games, no matter who you play. We lost to Penn and you would think we should be able to beat them at home, but they put 79 on us,” commented Perretta.

The Wildcats start their season on November 1 in an exhibition game against East Stroudsburg on the road. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.