Score: Villanova 75, VCU 65
Location: Villanova, Pa. (Finneran Pavilion)
Records: VCU 26-6, Villanova 19-12
Women's Basketball Invitational First Round
 
The Short Story: VCU and Villanova battled back-and-forth through the inaugural WBIT First Round but the one-seeded Wildcats used a late third quarter run to pull away from the Rams.

OPENING TIP

• Sarah Te-Biasu scored a team-high 21 points, moving into ninth place all-time at VCU in career points with 1,478 through her four seasons
• Timaya Lewis-Eutsey had 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting
• Mykel Parham had six points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds
• Villanova shot 52 percent from the field and went 10-of-27 from 3-point range. VCU shot just 40 percent and was 4-of-15 from behind the arc
• The Wildcats led VCU 16-7 in points off turnovers and 17-5 in bench points
• Villanova was led by Lucy Olsen who scored a game-high 29 points, the Wildcats' next leading scorer had 11 points

HOW IT HAPPENED

• VCU and Villanova went back-and-forth in the first quarter with a pair of lead changes and ties
• Neither team led by more than three points until a pair of free throws with less than a second left on the clock gave Villanova a 16-12 lead
• The Rams would trail 22-17 with 7:34 left in the second quarter but a quick 5-0 burst from VCU in 21 seconds, capped off by a turnaround jumper from Te-Biasu, tied the game at 22-22 with 7:02 left
• Villanova answered and went on a 10-0 run to build a 32-22 lead with 3:30 before the half
• The Rams would not go down without a fight and closed the half on a 10-4 run with a Samantha Robinson layup at the buzzer cutting the deficit to 36-32 at the break
• VCU kept in close in the third quarter and trailed just 50-46 with 3:55 left in the period after a Lewis-Eutsey free throw but Villanova went on a 14-2 run to lead 64-48 heading into the final 10 minutes
• VCU got as close as 66-55 on another Lewis-Eutsey free throw with 6:14 remaining but couldn't cut the deficit any further

NOTABLE

• VCU closed the season with 26 wins and tied the 2007-08 and 2008-09 team for the program record for overall wins in a season
• The 26 wins were the most in a regular season in VCU history
• The six losses were the fewest losses in a season by VCU in the Division I era and tied for the fewest all-time
• VCU set the NCAA record for largest turnaround in a season at a 17.5 game improvement and finished 26-6 after going 7-22 last season
• The Rams appeared in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament, a new tournament this season sponsored by the NCAA