City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Villanova already knew one way it could win games. Call it the Lucy Olsen method. 

The former Spring-Ford standout came into Tuesday’s game against Holy Cross leading the Wildcats and ranking second in the country in scoring (28.0 ppg), behind only Iowa star Caitlin Clark amongst Division I women. She’d scored at least 20 points each time ‘Nova took the floor, setting a new career best with a 40-point outing Sunday against Temple. 

Olsen goes bananas, Wildcats win. Easy enough. 

What hadn't happened yet was Olsen being held in check, forcing Denise Dillon's Wildcats to adapt. From that standpoint, consider Villanova’s 63-53 win over Holy Cross a success. 

The Crusaders (2-3) managed to limit Olsen to 14 points, her lowest scoring total of the young season. But senior Bella Runyan and freshman Maddie Webber stepped up, each contributing 13 points to the win. 

It might not have been as convincing as Dillon would have liked, Villanova jumping out to a big early lead and then letting Holy Cross back into it by halftime and having to hold off its guests the entire second half. But getting scoring contributions from anybody other than Olsen is a critical component of Villanova’s potential success this season, and they’re looking for scorers to step up.

“Go back year after year and you can look at a box score — when you have three scorers in double figures, a majority of the time, because we’re so focused on defense, we come out on the winning end,” Dillon said. “What we would like to see is just the consistency with knowing who that ‘2’, ‘3’ spot might be.”

Runyan, a 5-foot-11 wing and four-year contributor for Villanova (3-1), finished three shy of her career high as she hit double figures for the second time this season, a feat she only achieved three times last year. The Moorestown Friends (N.J.) alumna also grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds for her first double-double, adding four assists and drawing five fouls while only committing one turnover without a foul in 36 minutes of action. 

The career 27% 3-point shooter was 3-of-7 from downtown to boot.

“I think any game where I’m feeling it, especially from the outside, helps me get a little more confidence,” she said. “I haven’t been shooting very well from the outside, so I think coach Dillon [being] in my ear and my teammates always telling me keep letting it fly [...] I finally got the one to fall, and it was like ‘thank God,’ so I just kept letting it fly.”

Villanova senior Bella Runyan recorded a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's win over Holy Cross. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Runyan’s value to Villanova isn’t typically her scoring, though she’s now averaging 7.3 ppg (and 7.8 rpg) through four games, which would beat out her previous career high of 4.9 ppg, set in her freshman year. Her defensive presence is why she’s played more than 20 mpg in every season she’s been at ‘Nova, and she’ll see a ton of time this year whether she’s getting buckets or not. 

Webber, however, is a different story. The 5-foot-11 wing out of South Fayette poured in 1,387 points in high school, a big guard with a smooth jump shot who was picked to the All-PA First Team as a senior. 

It was clear in practices that Webber could bring a scoring punch right away; her first two collegiate games saw her score a total of nine points on the road at Portland and Oregon State, but she’s heated up at the Finneran Pavilion. Tuesday was the second game in a row in which she’s scored 13, upping her scoring average to 8.8 ppg, second-best on the team. 

After going 1-of-7 from deep, she knocked down three of her four 3-pointers (4-of-9 overall), leading a ‘Nova side that shot 10-of-27 (37%) from deep.

“She certainly has the confidence, she came in with the want to impact and do whatever was necessary to help and for us to be successful,” Dillon said. “When you have that, it definitely helps [...] She has an ability to score in different ways, she has a real quick step. Her getting open shots now is because she’s gaining a greater understanding of what we’re doing and not forcing things.”

Villanova has other scoring options, but senior wing Maddie Burke (8.3 ppg) has had a slow-shooting start to the year (5-of-20, .250), going 1-of-5 from deep against Holy Cross. Early fouls limited junior forward Christina Dalce (7 points, 6 rebounds) to 18 minutes of action. 

The Wildcats also had to finish the game shorthanded, as point guard Zanai Jones limped off just 10 seconds into the start of the third quarter, coming down on a Holy Cross player’s foot as she took a 3-pointer.

By that point, what had been a 28-14 Villanova lead early in the second quarter was down to 34-27, Holy Cross scoring the final seven points of the opening half. The gap got as low as five with 4:17 left in the quarter, but a 3-pointer from Webber and one from Runyan got it back to 11 with 1:45 left. 

Redshirt freshman Abby Jegede’s only three points were key ones, a triple from the corner just ahead of the third quarter buzzer to keep the edge at 11. Holy Cross never threatened again.

“Big shot by Abby Jegede, that’s huge,” Dillon said. “With Z right now, see where she stands, you’re going to need another player, so getting Abby ready, that was a huge shot to end the third quarter.”

Villanova heads on the road this weekend, visiting Wake Forest (2-3) on Sunday.