By Sally Fahey
Maddy Siegrist had 37 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 11 Villanova beat Creighton 63-61 in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament.
The No. 2 seed Wildcats play top-seeded UConn tonight for the Big East title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The ninth-ranked Huskies are the only team to beat Villanova since the middle of December.
Siegrest, who scored at least 30 points for the 14th time this season, had 11 in the fourth quarter. The Blue Jays made it a one-possession game on three occasions in the final period but, each time, Siegrist answered, twice scoring inside before grabbing an air-balled 3-point point shot, drawing a foul and hitting two free throws to make it 63-59 with 26 seconds to play.
Lauren Jensen scored 22 points, Emma Ronsiek had 15 points, five assists and two steals for Creighton (22-8). Molly Mogensen added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
The Blue Jays had their four-game win streak snapped and lost for just the second time in the last 12 games.
Morgan Maly’s putback of an Ronsiek miss at the buzzer in overtime gave Creighton a 75-74 win over Seton Hall in the tournament’s quarterfinals.
Siegrist made 14 of 21 from the field, hit 8 of 9 from the free-throw line and finished with four assists an no turnovers. Christina Dalce added nine points and nine rebounds for the WildcatsVillanova (28-5) has won five games in a row and 19 of its last 21.
