College of Charleston
Villanova
Women?s Hoops Falls to Villanova in Showcase Finale, 60-41
11/30/2014 7:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ESTERO, Fla. – Playing against one of the nation's best programs for the third consecutive day, College of Charleston women's basketball fell on Sunday afternoon to the Villanova Wildcats, 60-41, in the Cougars final game of the 2014 Gulf Coast Showcase.
Junior forward Jacqueline Luna-Castro had one of her best games of the season, scoring 14 points and grabbing six rebounds, while Shannon Hines contributed offensively with seven. Sophomore combo guard Bre Bolden shrugged off a tough shooting display to help the Cougars on the glass, grabbing 10 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. As a team, CofC controlled the paint, grabbing 34 total rebounds and outscoring the Wildcats on the low-block, 20-12, but it wasn't enough as Villanova shot 40% from the field to hand the Cougars their seventh consecutive loss of the season.
The Cougars (0-7) came out firing in the opening half, playing well defensively and knocking down open shots to take a 7-2 lead following a baseline three-pointer from senior Erin Hall. A trey from Shannon Hines then gave CofC a 10-5 lead with 15:37 left in the half, but as the game slowed and Villanova (2-5) began to settle, the Wildcats managed a 19-2 run, capped by a three from point guard Caroline Coyer to give the Villanova 24-12 lead with 7:24 to go in the half. Back-to-back buckets from Hall and Luna-Castro closed the deficit to just eight, but the Wildcats continued to be efficient offensively, eventually taking a 31-19 lead to the locker room at halftime.
CofC started the second half well, cutting the gap to five after a strong finish from Luna-Castro, but Villanova quickly recovered, knocking down five threes and extending their advantage to as many as 20 at 55-35, before eventually walking away with a 60-41 victory.
The College will now take two weeks off to focus on their academics, before returning to Florida for a match-up with the University of South Florida, in Tampa, on Sunday, Dec. 14.
In last season's contest, the Cougars defeated the Bulls, 71-64 at TD Arena.
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