March 9, 2003
By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Trish Juhline scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half and No. 20 Villanova defeated Notre Dame 50-39 in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament Sunday night.
Nicole Druckenmiller added 10 points and Kate Dessart-Mager had nine as Villanova (23-5) advanced to Monday’s semifinal against Miami (18-11). The seventh-seeded Hurricanes upset No. 18 Rutgers 77-74 in a game decided on a late technical foul for excessive timeouts.
Jacqueline Batteast had 15 points and Courtney LaVere 12 for Notre Dame (19-10), which will probably get a bid to the NCAA tournament next week. Alicia Ratay, who was averaging 12 points, was held scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting in 31 minutes.
The last of four quarterfinals at the Rutgers Athletic Center was offensively challenged in the first half with the teams leaving the court tied at 13.
Villanova took the lead for good on a layup by Juhline with 12:34 to play. The basket ignited a 12-2 run that featured two 3-pointers by Druckenmiller for a 35-26 lead.
Notre Dame managed to get within six points several times, the last at 45-39 on a layup with 1:44 to go by Batteast, who also had nine rebounds.
However, Juhline hit two free throws and the Wildcats were never threatened.