The Guru’s NCAAW National/Local Roundup: Villanova Falls to Visiting Fairfield While Hidalgo Scores 27 in Notre Dame Rout of FDU

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

VILLANOVA, Pa. – After two nights of heavy activity as the collegiate basketball season got under way it got a little quiet Wednesday night but especially so for the home team Wildcats in their second game here at Finneran Pavilion.

Given a chance to avenge last season’s loss at two-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Fairfield the visiting Stags played their first game on a dynamic non-conference schedule in a matchup that will be in the viewing profile of the winner by the NCAA women’s basketball tournament committee.

Villanova coming off Monday’s home game win over Lafayette was still stuck in the starting gate as the Stags ripped off a 13-1 lead to get under way.

The ‘Cats managed to rally later in the game to tie and take a few brief leads but with foul trouble plaguing Denise Dillon’s group, including Villanova leading scorer Jasmin Bascoe with 30 points forcing her to the bench at a critical moment in the game, Fairfield took advantage and went back home to Connecticut with a 75-63 victory tucked away.

Kylee Watson, the transfer from Notre Dame, was the other Villanovan in double figures with 11 points, but two early fouls deprived the Wildcats of needed leadership as the Wildcats are in the early phase of a roster blend.

The loss was the first for a local, though technically Lafayette losing here Monday in the Guru’s expanded 13-team region market counts but considering the Big Five having more weight, the Leopards’ loss can be diminished.

Fairfield will cheer for ‘Nova to do well moving forward to maintain the value of Stags’ win.

The Wildcats failed the game plan allowing the opposition to the line where Fairfield was 21-25 opposed to Villanova shooting 10-13.

While Bascoe had another high scoring night it was not executed  with efficiency as noted with her shooting 12-25.

“I’m disappointed with how we came out and the many lapses we had throughout the contest,” Dillon said following a longer wait than it usually takes for her to hit the media room are both wins and losses. “We just played some really, really bad undisciplined basketball.”

Flaws can be hidden in high-scoring wins, so Dillon was in the minority being unhappy over what she saw Monday, saying those deficiencies came back to get her team against the Stags.

On Fairfield’s side, Meghan Andersen, the main reason the Stags are again MAAC favorites, had a career high 35 points and the 1,000th of her career enabling her tie for second as the fastest to reach that milestone in program history.

“I loved our collective toughness particularly in the fourth quarter, said Fairfield coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis, the daughter of former WNBA Connecticut coach and Washington Mystics general manager/coach Mike Thibault whose son Eric succeeded him on the bench, and this season was an assistant to Cheryl Reeve with the Minnesota Linx and was in the house here with their mom to watch his sister, one of the top young mentors in the nation.

“Meg obviously led the charge in the offensive end but we had so many different people step in different ways. I think this was a great step forward for us by showing that kind of adversity to respond after not a great third quarter and finish it with a really strong fourth.”

Fairfield won the final period 24-12.

The game had a reunion from both sides with Sydni Scott, a Cardinal O’Hara graduate, returning, coincidentally, on her birthday while Ryanne Allen, who plays for Villanova, went to Archbishop Wood but both were teammates on the nationally prominent Philadelphia Belles AAU operation.

Fairfield moves to its home opener Saturday hosting Lehigh coming off the opening upset at Cincinnati of the Big 12.

Villanova Sunday meets VCU in Toronto, a homecoming for Bascoe.

The Guru Thursday will be at the annual Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame ceremony but two of the remaining four locals play, LaSalle opens at Loyola of MD in Baltimore at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ while on the same network at 6 p.m. Rider hosts Lafayette at Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville between Trenton and Princeton as former USP and Arcadia coach Jackie Hartzell makes her Division I debut with the Broncs.

Rutgers at 7 p.m. on B1G+ at Jersey Mikes Arena hosts MAAC runnerup Quinnipiac coached by Delran native and former Fairfield star Tricia Fabbri (nee Sacca).

Penn opens at 4 p.m. at the Palestra Friday hosting King’s on ESPN+and allowing local bipartisans to get over to Temple at 7 p.m. where the Owls will be going for their second win, also facing another foe of the A-10 meeting George Washington.

Princeton is at Georgia Tech Sunday at 2 p.m. on ACCNX.

Also Friday, Saint Joseph’s is at Maine at 7 p.m. on ESPN+, Drexel at 7 p.m. is at Marist in Poughkepsie, N.Y. on ESPN+, Delaware in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark on ESPN+ hosting Navy at p.m., while Penn State at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall in University Park hosts Cincinnati.

The National Scene

Just three ranked games of note and two others as No. 15 Notre Dame opened in South Bend, Ind., and the Irish whipped NEC champion FDU 98-52, coached by former Villanova star Stephanie V. Gaitley, as South Jersey’s all-American Hannah Hidalgo scored 27 points.

No. 14 Iowa State at home in Ames routed SWAC contender Southern 85-58 as Audi Crooks double doubled with 29 points and 14 boards, while No. 22 Oklahoma State got 17 points in the first half of 22 from Haleigh Timmer in a 97-59 win over East Texas A&M at home in Stillwater.

Elsewhere, UNLV at home beat Washington State 64-51 while San Francisco beat visiting UNC Greensboro 64-40.

On Monday when Pacific of the West Coast Conference beat UC San Diego 69-66 Bradley Davis became the winningest coach in the program with 141 victories.

On Thursday, no glamor games among ranked teams as No. 10 Maryland hosts UMBC at 6 o.m. On B1G+; No. 3 UCLA at 2 p.m. on the same network hosts Santa Barbara at 2:30 p.m.; No. 17 TCU st 5 p.m. on ESPN+ hosts North Carolina A&T; No. 24 Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. on SECN+ hosts stste rival Monmouth; No. 11 North Carolina hosts Elon at 7 p.m. on ACCX; No. 22 Oklahoma State hosts Langston at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+; and No. 5 LSU at 8 p.m. on SECN+ hosts SE Louisiana.