City of Basketball Love

Finn Courtney (@finncourtney_)
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VILLANOVA - “No one scores on me” is a motto freshman guard Kennedy Henry takes to heart and one she carried at Blair Academy, at Westtown and now on the Main Line at Villanova. Monday night against Lafayette, she not only backed up her credentials on the defensive end but led her team in points and three-points made.

“I still have the same goal [as I did playing with Westtown], go in, play my role, look for my shot when I’m open and shoot it,” Henry said. “Defensively doing the same thing, continuing to be a pest on defense. [...] That's what I carry over and that’s the same mentality I had when I was playing [in high school].”

Jumping a half-hour down the road from her last school at Westtown to Villanova, Henry showed every bit of what made her such a highly regarded recruit a summer ago. In a dominant 70-37 win over the Leopards, the 6-foot-tall freshman impressed with a team-high 13 points and outstanding defense, forcing multiple turnovers as part of a ferocious Wildcat effort on that end.

Originally playing her first three years at Blair Academy in New Jersey and committing to Virginia Tech to play college basketball, Henry decommitted after a coaching change and transferred to local powerhouse Westtown for her senior season. While a member of the Moose, Henry was a starter on route to Westtown’s fourth straight PAISAA title.

A critical piece of the puzzle for sixth-year head coach Denise Dillon, Henry struggled in both of Villanova’s exhibition games with just nine combined points on 3-of-15 shooting and 0-of-8 from beyond the arc. The start of the regular season came with much improvement, some lingering growing pains, but overall, what looks like the start of an exciting collegiate career.

After a season of playing with scoring superstars like Jessie Moses and Jordyn Palmer, Henry was a major part of the scoring puzzle that Villanova faced with a mostly new roster as they opened non-conference play.

“I feel like I just went out there and had fun, I feel like through practice, after exhibition games, I definitely gained confidence and it was good to see my teammates have confidence in me to continue to shoot the ball,” Henry said. “We get better each and every day [and] it was just fun being out there and connecting with my team.”

Henry finished the night 4-of-14 from the floor, but impressed from three-point range as all four made field goals coming from beyond the arc, along with four rebounds, two blocks, one steal and two assists, including one to Denae Carter to open scoring. Henry was seemingly everywhere, a big part of a defense that forced 22 turnovers, allowed just five Leopards to score and a testament to her athleticism.

Henry played a team-high 25 minutes, playing hard every minute she was on the floor and filling the shoes of scorers for Villanova last season like Maddie Webber (transferred to Illinois) and Maddie Burke (exhausted eligibility).

“Really pleased with the amount of time early in their careers that these freshmen are getting,” Dillon said.

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Newcomers make immediate impact

Beyond Henry, Monday saw the new-look Wildcats take the court to immense success. 

Returning just three players who averaged more than 10 minutes per game (Jasmine Bascoe, Carter, Ryanne Allen), Dillon has infused this program with veteran transfers now starting for the Wildcats (Kelsey Joens from Iowa State, Kylee Watson from Notre Dame), returners taking on bigger roles (Brynn McCurry, Dani Ceseretti) and talented freshmen pushing for minutes (Henry, Brooke Bender, MD Ntambue).

Also playing her first collegiate game, Ohio native and twin with sister and teammate Elise, Brooke Bender showed a ton of promise off the bench in 20 minutes of action. Bender led all bench players, with double-digit scoring with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. The 6-1 forward also was impressive defensively, finishing tied for second on the Wildcats in rebounds with six, five of them on the defensive end and three steals.

“I think Brooke does a great job of hunting for her shot and it’s going to be key that her teammates look for her, especially with the inside presence we have,” Dillon said. “I was really happy that she continued to shoot the ball even after she missed a couple and she understands that’s her role and I appreciate these guys looking for her. I think she and [Kennedy] have a quick connection there, that freshman class.”

New to Villanova, Kelsey Joens took advantage of a bigger role on the Main Line than Iowa State and impressed in her first game. Joens finished with 11 points (4-of-10 shooting, 3-of-7 3PA) and four rebounds, pacing the team with her experience and impressive basketball pedigree. Coming off a solid, but not as high scoring volume in the two exhibition games, Joens looked more able to find shots tonight - something echoed by Dillon, post-game.

“She seemed more comfortable tonight than she was in those exhibition [games], which is rightfully so,” Dillon said. “You’re uncertain of a lot of things, the environment, the team, what you’re going to face, but just recognizing what she’s capable of doing. I thought she was a little more assertive in moving to the open window, when the ball went inside and [she] was looking for it.”

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Deep rotation a positive for Villanova

Coming into this season, Jasmine Bascoe was looked at as the scoring star for the Wildcats, coming off a fantastic freshman year and a unanimous selection to the Big East All-Freshman Team. 

Even with an inefficient shooting night for the Canadian sharpshooter, posting 10 points, 8 of which came after halftime, six rebounds and four assists, Villanova leaned on its depth, particularly freshmen in Henry, Bender and Ntambue, and were still able to dispatch the Leopards by 34.

“I think [that depth is] definitely a key for us,” Dillon said. “The versatility that we offer and just understanding that the time you get out on the floor, you want to make the most of it. So, really pleased with the amount of time early in their careers that these freshmen are getting.”

By halftime, Dillon had already gone 11 deep into the Wildcat bench and all to a positive night, with 10/12 of Villanova players scoring for the Wildcats and registering positive +/- when the final buzzer sounded. While Dillon admits that rotation will surely tighten up as the team fully heals up from injuries, it’s a positive sign for the Wildcats going forward.

“You have the opportunity to sprinkle some people in, but we're going to make sure we’re finding who that core group is,” Dillon said. “We haven’t been healthy, just getting a couple of them back so seeing where they stand, more minutes together, more practice but yeah, for us to be efficient and sharp in what we’re doing, we’ve got to tighten up a little bit.”

Despite an inefficient night from the entire Villanova offense, shooting 39.4% the field (28-of-71) and posting a 36.4% shooting percentage from three-point range (12-of-33), there was a lot to be happy about, especially from the freshman class which accounted for 19 points.

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Adamski begins new chapter for Lafayette

No stranger to the Philadelphia area, freshman Haylie Adamski logged her first collegiate minutes Monday night for the Leopards - about a half hour down the road from where the 6-0 guard played four standout years for Garnet Valley.

The eldest of four sisters, all of whom play basketball, Adamski helped lead Garnet Valley to two Central League titles in 2022 and 2025 and broke the Jaguars’ all-time scoring record along the way of an outstanding senior campaign (17.7 ppg, 6 rpg, 2.9 spg, 2.5 apg).

While likely not on track to put on the kind of season she had a year ago, Adamski looks to be locked firmly in the rotation for Lafayette head coach Kia Damon-Olson and logged 11 minutes but was unable to score her first basket, finishing 0-for-1 from the field.