December 9, 2025
Sights and Sounds: Villanova wins women’s Philadelphia Big 5 Classic
By Mia Messina
With a 76-70 win over Saint Joseph's, Villanova earned its 20th all-time Big 5 women's title
As the sound of “All I Do is Win” rang out over the speakers of Finneran Pavillion on Dec. 7 and the Villanova women’s basketball team posed with the Philadelphia Big 5 Classic championship banner, the song was indicative of more than just a city title, it was an indication of the Wildcat’s status as the winningest women’s Big 5 team, capturing their 20th all-time title.
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Earlier in the day, the University of Pennsylvania took down La Salle, 65-52, in the fifth-place game, while Drexel defeated Temple 59-52 in the third-place matchup. But it was Villanova that took the title game of the Big 5 Classic with a 76-70 win over Saint Joseph’s.
Villanova, the host for the triple-header event, welcomed 1,200 fans over the course of the day.
“Great basketball [was] played here today,” Wildcats’ head coach Denise Dillon said. “Glad we capped it off with the Big 5 Championship.”
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Not only was the title game the third in a triple-header, but it was also the third in a string of tough matchups for the Wildcats, all of which they emerged from on top.
Earlier in the week, Villanova took on a ranked opponent, beating No. 25 West Virginia 81-59, on Dec. 1. They followed that with a 76-69 win over a good Georgetown team, to start BIG EAST Conference play off with a win on Dec. 4. And they closed out this stretch with a down-to-the-wire fight against a familiar opponent in St. Joe’s.
St. Joe’s and Villanova have faced off five times in the past three seasons, with Villanova holding a 4-1 record over the Hawks.
And it wasn’t just the players who partook in the local rivalry. The school bands for each team traded chants and insults almost as frequently as their teams traded baskets.
Villanova has ended St. Joe’s season the past two years. Two years ago, St. Joe’s beat Villanova to claim the Big 5 title for the 2023-24 season. Last year, Villanova beat St. Joe’s to earn entry into the title game, before falling to Temple.
The rivalry runs as wide as Lancaster Avenue, and much deeper than that.
Villanova junior forward Brynn McCurry tied her career-high in scoring — set less than a week prior at West Virginia — with 21 points in the game. McCurry said it was important to relay the message of just how much this rivalry and a Big 5 game mean for her teammates who haven’t played in a game like this before.
“I think this gives us a lot of momentum going into the rest of the season, knowing that we can win these games,” McCurry said.
The game started with Villanova pulling ahead early, taking seven of the first 10 points in the opening four minutes of the game and playing stingy defense against the Hawks. But sophomore guard Rhian Stokes quickly tipped the momentum in favor of St. Joe’s, starting a 7-0 run, led by Stokes and junior guard Gabby Casey, to take the lead going into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, both teams traded runs and the lead multiple times, with Villanova pulling ahead on an 8-0 run for an 11-point lead with less than two minutes left in the half. However, a run from St. Joe’s dwindled the gap to just 3 points going into the half.
McCurry and the Wildcats finished the third quarter up by five. Villanova and St. Joe’s spent most of the fourth quarter trading shots before a 7-0 run from Villanova gave it a nine-point lead with less than three minutes to go. While the Hawks were able to fight back a little in the last few minutes of play, they couldn’t fully erase the Wildcats’ dominance, especially from long range.
Villanova finished the game 54.2% from beyond the arc and 41.7% from the field. The Hawks’ head coach, Cindy Griffin, emphasized the Wildcats’ efficiency from three as one of the major challenges St. Joe’s struggled to overcome in the game.
“We’ve got to continue to grow. We can’t be giving up, [54%] from the 3-point line,” Griffin said. “That’s just unacceptable, because, obviously, threes are more than twos.”
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Despite the loss, the Hawks saw major production from Stokes, who scored a game-high 23 points, adding a game-high six assists as well.
“She’s our highest percentage shooter from distance, and I thought she handled the ball really well,” Griffin said. “She got the ball, she gets to the free throw line and scores in different ways, and I thought she did a nice job defensively today. I really love the growth of her.”
For Villanova, four of its starters finished with double-digit points, with sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe and junior guard Kelsey Joens behind McCurry with 13 points each. Senior forward Denae Carter had 10 points in the game and eight rebounds.
Dillon said she thinks the loss in the Big 5 title game on the Wildcats’ home court last season had a little to do with her team’s performance this time out. For the new players, she made sure to emphasize what Big 5 basketball games look like.
“These games are always gritty, they’re tough,” Dillon said. “Last year, they knew they gave something up here on our home court and wanted to make sure we took care of business here today against St. Joe’s.”
The earlier two games saw similar action to the marquee event. Dallas Wings forward and former Villanova Maddy Siegrist and New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones were both in attendance for the Temple and Drexel matchup.
That game saw freshman guard Molly Rullo put up 22 points for the Dragons in their victory over the Owls, who were led by a 16-point performance from junior guard Kaylah Turner.
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In the most lopsided outcome of the three games, sophomore forward Katie Collins contributed 20 points to Penn’s 13-point victory over LaSalle. Junior guard Aryss Macktoon paced the Explorers with 15 points.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Big 5 competition without a few roll-out banners.
With a 17-point lead early in the third quarter of the first game, the Quakers rolled out a banner that read “Not even Dora can help you” to the trailing Explorers.
In the title game, the St. Joe’s student section held up a sign poking fun at Villanova’s out-of-city location despite being considered a Philly school. It said, “If you’re reading this…you’re not in Philly.”
Maybe so, but Villanova finished with the last laugh and the title as Philly’s Big 5 women’s champion.
