VILLANOVA, Pa.- Villanova women's lacrosse advances to the BIG EAST Championship for the first time in program history after taking down the UConn Huskies 16-10 on Thursday evening.
 
Jillian Vaught scored a game-high of three goals earning herself a hat trick. Juliet Walls and Cate Gallagher both tallied game-high caused turnovers at four apiece with Gallagher adding six saves and six ground balls. Emma Verhoest controlled six draws.
 
Elena Torres was the first to score with 14:02 left in the first quarter. Sami Carey then found Vaught to help her net the ball for the first time. At 10:53, Carey scored unassisted, her first of the game. Sophia Corretjer passed to Vaught who found the back of the net, making the score 4-3 at the end of the first quarter.
 
At 14:16 in the second frame, Leslie Iorio scored with Rose Christie getting the helper. Madison Freeman was the next Wildcat to score with 11:18 on the clock. Scoring the last goal of the half for the 'Cats was Corretjer with the help of Iorio to put Villanova up 7-5 at half.
 
Vaught had a quick goal into the second half, only knocking off 19 seconds before finding the back of the net. Bella Piselli added to extend the lead 9-5 with Vaught's help. The 'Cats then got three free position goals in a row, Torres was first with Sydney Pappas and Carey following behind. With time running out on the clock, Villanova went into the fourth quarter up 12-6.
 
Iorio found the net one more time before helping Freeman score her second goal of the game. At 5:14, Pappas fired another one into the back of the net. Christie scored the last goal for the 'Cats with UConn scoring three before time runs out.
 
The Wildcats now face off against #1 Denver in the BIG EAST Championship on Saturday at 11a.m. inside Villanova Stadium.
 
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