Jasmine Bascoe’s big night sends Villanova to second straight WBIT Final Four appearance

In the last game at the Finneran Pavilion this season, Villanova went out with a 71-61 victory over Portland in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night.

Freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe led No. 4 seed Villanova (21-14) with 20 points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Sophomore guard Maddie Webber added 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field.

“We have so many girls that this was their last home game, so just knowing that, we want to keep going for them and to keep playing,” Bascoe said. “This is a big accomplishment, so we wanted to get this done.”

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The Wildcats clinched a spot in the semifinals for a second consecutive season and will face Belmont on Monday in Indianapolis (2:30 p.m., ESPNU). Belmont beat James Madison, 90-45, on Thursday.

“It’s amazing,” Villanova coach Denise Dillon said. “There’s some things you can never project looking ahead, and I just couldn’t be more proud of this group for coming together and continuing to get better as the season progressed. I felt the energy and was feeding off of that.”

The unseeded Pilots defeated Stanford and Seton Hall to reach the quarterfinals. But Villanova limited Portland to 38.5% shooting from the field. Graduate guard Emme Shearer led the Pilots with 17 points.

Villanova shot 45.2% from the field, while making 26.3% of its threes.

“[Villanova] hit timely shots,” Portland coach Michael Meek said. “I felt like they’re a really good team. I’m also really proud of our team for being on the road right now and being able to keep up with a team like that. We’ve had a lot of awesome experiences out of [the WBIT] that we wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Villanova established an early lead with an 8-0 first-quarter run.

The Wildcats forced 12 Pilots turnovers in the first half, which resulted in an additional eight points. Portland committed 20 turnovers overall.

Villanova went into the locker room ahead, 36-24, and did not let up.

With four against Portland, Bascoe broke Villanova’s program record for most steals by a freshman. She has 65 total on the season.

The freshman guard scored just four points in the first half, while contributing seven assists. She heated up in the second half, dropping 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting.

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“[Bascoe’s] court vision is tremendous,” Dillon said. “And then just that scoring ability. When you’re impacting every possession, it’s really hard to stop.”

Bascoe topped an 11-0 Villanova run early in the fourth quarter with a shot in the paint to put the Wildcats up, 64-46.

It was a matter of sealing the win in the fourth quarter for Villanova.

A pair of free throws from junior guard Ryanne Allen increased the deficit to 67-48, Villanova’s largest lead of the game, with 5 minutes, 8 seconds remaining.

It was the final game at the Finneran Pavilion for five graduating players: graduate guard Maddie Burke, senior guard Kaitlyn Orihel, graduate guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy, graduate forward Lara Edmanson, and senior guard Jaliyah Green.

“Kaitlyn and Jaliyah, we couldn’t even take out of the game,” Dillon said. “We kept her out on the floor so she finished. To know that it’s the absolute last time you can be playing at home, it was for them to take advantage of and these young ones to play for them. So I couldn’t be happier.”