City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The breakthrough happened a month ago. And the momentum continues to build for Denise Dillon and Co. 

Villanova’s women went down to Morgantown (W.V.) to play No. 25 West Virginia University on Dec. 1 winners of three straight after opening the season 2-2. The Mountaineers represented their toughest challenge yet, a ranked high-major opponent that was already 7-1 on the season, with a win over Duke on its resume. 

So when the Wildcats women rolled out of there with a 22-point win, snapping the Mountaineers’ 21-game home winning streak in dominating fashion, head coach Denise Dillon knew something different had clicked.

“One-hundred percent, that was the game that propelled us forward,” she said. “That was that ‘a-ha’ moment of, if we continue to get better at this, then good things can happen. It was a great win, certainly a confidence boost, but I think it was moreso an awareness to what we had been working towards, what the plan is.”

“Going in there and getting that win and winning by a decent amount showed us what we’re capable of,” senior guard Ryanne Allen agreed. 

The ‘Nova women haven’t lost since. 

A 74-64 win over Creighton on New Years’ Day was their 10th in a row, propelling them to a 12-2 record on the season, including 5-0 in Big East play and a Big 5 title along the way. The first couple months of the season have gone about as well as Dillion could have optimistically projected prior to the season, coming into this season with a roster that had a few veteran pieces in Ryanne Allen and Denae Carter and a star on the rise in sophomore Jasmine Bascoe but otherwise was going to have to rely on a number of unknown factors to find success. 

Villanova’s only two losses thus far came in the first four games of the year, to Fairfield and Princeton, both at home. Neither one is a bad loss; Fairfield is 10-3 (4-0 MAAC) with two of those losses coming to teams ranked in the AP top 15 at the time; Princeton is 12-1 and ranked No. 25 in the latest AP poll. 

“There’s a level of unknown when you have a lot of new faces, and new young players,” Dillon said, “and you’re hopeful because you [have] some key returnees [...] but you wanted to see if they were going to continue to progress and get better. 

“And they certainly have.”

Bascoe, a 5-foot-10 Canadian guard and the reigning Big 5 Rookie of the Year, is leading the Wildcats in scoring (17.3 ppg) and assists (4.4 apg), with a 1.8:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Allen (9.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg) and Carter (8.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg) have been reliable veterans. And they’re getting plenty of help.

Redshirt sophomore Brynn McCurry, coming off her second torn ACL in three seasons, has been outstanding as a do-everything wing, averaging 12.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 3.8 apg. Freshmen Kennedy Henry (9.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, team-high 26 steals and 19 blocks) and Brooke Bender (6.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg) have been high-level contributors immediately; Iowa State transfer Kelsey Joens (6.5 ppg) has fit right in as well.

The insertion of McCurry into the starting lineup five games into the season coincided with an injury to graduate student center and Notre Dame transfer Kylee Watson. The 6-4 Watson, who’s dealt with injuries over the course of her college career, came back at the end of December after missing eight games, but Dillon said has been unable to practice due to the injury and recovery. 

Either way, there’s no doubt that having the 6-0 McCurry at the center of a ‘small-ball’ lineup that also includes a number of versatile wings in the 6-0 Henry, 5-10 Bender, 5-10 Allen and others has been to the Wildcats’ benefit. 

“The small ball, it definitely works, the versatility piece works so long as we’re rebounding, and just present on the drives and to be there to help and contest,” Dillon said. “I’m 100% confident that (Watson) has the ability to and versatility to really shine in our style, but unfortunately it’s hard for her to grasp that when she’s not working on it daily [in practice]. 

“Brynn, she’s shorter than Ky, but she’s so comfortable and there’s a reason why she committed to Villanova from Day One and getting her back has been so vital, because it makes sense to her and it’s natural.”

Ryanne Allen (5) is having her best collegiate season as a senior. (Photo: Matthew Chin/CoBL)

One look at the Wildcats’ team statistics, and one area immediately stands out: the 3-point arc.

As a team, Villanova is just outside the top 20 nationally in 3-point shooting (38.0%), doing that despite the fact that their leading 3-point shooter in terms of attempts, Bascoe, is just 26-of-89 (29.2%). The rest of the roster is hitting at over 41% — all while holding opponents to 24.5% through December 31, which was No. 14 in the nation at the time. 

Leading the way is Allen, who’s 27-of-54 (50.0%) from deep after hitting three of her four 3-point attempts against Creighton. The Archbishop Wood product, who played her first two seasons at Vanderbilt before transferring to Villanova last season, is having the best year of her collegiate career as an off-the-bench sharpshooting threat for the Wildcats. 

“I think I’m just healthy, I think that’s the biggest piece,” she said, “and being a senior I’m just confident in myself, not overthinking as much.”

“It’s a little bit like I was telling Maddie Burke last year — you can’t bring these shots with you, so you get a little space, let it fly,” Dillon added. “I’m really happy that Ryanne Allen is all on board with that, she’s feeling good about it, all her teammates are, and she’s making every shot count for sure.”

She’s far from alone. Henry is 20-of-50 (40.0%) from deep. Bender is 23-of-53 (43.4%). Jones is 20-of-53 (37.7%). Sophomore wing Dani Ceseretti is 5-of-10 (50%) for good measure. McCurry’s only taken 15 3’s, making five of them. 

The strong play from the perimeter is a group effort in more ways than one. Villanova’s ability to hit open shots is matched by its ability to create them. It starts with Bascoe on the ball, but everybody Dillon puts on the court understands how to give up a good shot for a great one, resulting in one open look after another. 

According to HerHoopStats, Villanova is ninth in the country in assisted shot rate (68.5%), averaging 19.6 assists per game (13th nationally). Their assist-to-turnover ratio (1.45:1) is, not surprisingly, 16th-best in D-I. 

“I think that’s why we’re doing so good as a whole, shooting, just because we’re so confident in each other and making the extra passes and making people guard us that we’re all kind of hitting a stride right now,” Allen said. 

The Wildcats haven’t yet made an appearance in the rankings this season, even in the receiving votes section. That could change by next Monday, when the poll comes back after a week off due to the holidays, if they beat Marquette on the road on Sunday. 

If they win their next three, they’ll be 15-2 (8-0) headed into a showdown with No. 1 UConn, the Big East preseason favorite and one of the true blue bloods of the sport. Dillon wasn’t willing to look ahead to anything more than the matchup with Marquette, but she knows that the Wildcats need to keep piling up the wins if they want to earn a March Madness invite a couple months from now. 

“We need to keep finding a way to separate ourselves,” Dillon said. “If we get into the middle of the pack, then in March, they don’t care about us, they push us aside and it’s all about UConn. But we’ll worry about the ‘now.’”