'Nova beats No. 20 Irish 58-47 in Big East tourney

Laura Kurz had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Villanova beat No. 20 Notre Dame 58-47 Sunday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.

Lisa Karcic added 11 points for the Wildcats (19-12), whose victory over the Irish in the regular season earned them the fourth seed in the tournament.

Melissa Lechlitner and Ashley Barlow each had 10 for fifth-seeded Notre Dame (22-8).

Villanova hit just two of its first 14 shots and trailed by four at halftime, but opened the second half with an 18-8 run.

"Basically the coach became un-brain dead and started posting (Kurz) up," said Villanova coach Harry Perretta, who shared the conferences coach of the year honors with UConn's Geno Auriemma.

Consecutive 3-pointers from Heather Scanlon gave Villanova a 39-33 lead with 13 minutes left, and Kurz's first 3 put her team up 50-41 with just over 3 minutes left.

"I missed my first five or six shots, but I knew I had to keep shooting," Kurz said. "I try to keep a short-term memory and I always think that my next shot is going in."

The Wildcats were 10 of 25 from 3-point range. Notre Dame attempted just five 3-pointers and made one.

Villanova will be making its 12th appearance in the semifinals. The Wildcats have won the tournament three times, the last in 2003.

The Irish jumped out to an 15-5 lead, but the Wildcats kept in close by going inside to Kurz, who had eight first-half points. Her kickout to Siobhan O'Connor for a 3-pointer cut the lead to 23-21 with 16 seconds left in the first half. But Lechlitner hit an 18-foot jump shot at the halftime buzzer to give the Irish a 25-21 lead.

"With Kurz on the block, we tried some different things with double teaming her," said Lechlitner. "She's a great passer and would find the open shooter and when she didn't she would just drive."

Villanova and Notre Dame each went 10-6 in the Big East this season. The Wildcats came in unranked, but were seeded higher than Notre Dame because they beat the Fighting Irish 55-48 in January.

Perretta said he believes the win should secure and NCAA berth for the Wildcats, who will play either South Florida and top-ranked Connecticut in the semifinals.

"My personal feeling is that we kind of like got that weight off our shoulders and will just show up and play," Perretta said.