Villanova Women's Basketball tips off the Big East tournament against Marquette at 6pm tonight at the XL Center in Hartford. The women had a great start to their season, going 10-2 in November and December. They swept the Big 5 and went down to Chattanooga to win the Lady Mocs Doubletree Classic.
The wheels began to fall off the bus in January, however. They went on to lose their first nine Big East contests. Their only conference wins came against Syracuse, Cincinnati and Providence to finish the season 14-15 overall and 3-13 in the Big East.
Their fall off can (at least partially) be attributed to the losses of senior Tia Grant and junior Amanda Swiezynski to knee injuries. Grant was the best overall athlete on the team, while Swiezynski's shooting was among the best on the squad. Junior Heather Scanlon was also out with a foot injury. These injuries crippled the Wildcat team and forced coach Perretta and his staff to go back to the drawing board mid-season.
If the Wildcat women are going to have any hope of making the NCAA tournament they will have to win the Big East tournament, starting with tonight's rematch against a Marquette team that they lost to 71-54 at home back in January.
Update: The Wildcats lost to Marquette 49-53 in their Big East Tournament opener, ending their season.