‘Nova underrated | The Boneyard

‘Nova underrated

mainerhuski

mainerhuski

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After yesterday’s game I don’t see how ‘Nova can remain unranked. They played the #1 team in the nation even except for the 3rd quarter. And having seen other games this week, such as OK v GA, they certainly looked as good as GA who is ranked 24. For quite a bit of the game they looked better than TN did v Ole Miss the other day.
 
I was at the game and was very impressed with the coaching, especially the preparation, as were the other UCONN fans around me of which there were several. I would project that a large, physical team with good inside play would be too much for them in the NCAAs. They definitely are undersized although Bascoe can flat out play.
 
I saw the same. Important was how good and athletic some of their players were. Bascoe and Carter come quickly to mind. This bodes well for next year and improving Big East.

Similar to Creighton and Marquette they also play with the right mind set against UConn. Fearless and find positives from winning posessions. Good coaching, the kids actually like the challenge of playing the Huskies.

Nova played good D, and made their shots in first half, while UConn was missing layups. That kept them even in first half. Then it just got away as shooting reversed.

Personally, I'd rather UConn be in a tight game like this...and face Strong in foul trouble, than a blowout. It's a more valuable learning experience.

Villanova may surprise someone in NCAA round 2.
 
I absolutely agree, both Nova and Marquette could be ranked. Good athletes and good coaches. They’d be competitive with a lot of ranked teams: UGA Alabama TTU Baylor Minn UNC. I’m not saying they’d win against all these teams. But I think they’d be competitive games.

One key to Nova is Watson. She’s got size at 6’4” and is playing better than she was able to at ND. And Bascoe is a significant talent, and Henry and Allen are good. For Marquette, Forbes is a major talent, and Volcker and Vice are very good. And the coaches, Dillon and Consuegra are excellent motivators.
 
Villanova is ranked by Massey at #41, one spot above #42 Stanford & two spots below #39 Princeton.
Marquette is ranked by Massey at #61, one spot above #62 Gonzaga & one spot below #60 N. Dakota State.

Villanova's NET rank is #36, two below #34 Georgia & one below #35 MIssissippi State.
Marquette's NET rank is #52, four spots below Columbia & three spots below Indiana.

Georgia is ranked #32 by Massey & #34 by the NET.
Their AP rank of #24 gives them an additional 8 spots due to upsetting Vanderbilt.
Georgia previously defeated Kentucky.

Google AI:
The Georgia Lady Bulldogs women's basketball team most recently re-entered the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll as No. 24 on February 16, 2026, following an upset win against No. 5 Vanderbilt. They previously entered the rankings at No. 23 on January 26, 2026, after a victory against Kentucky.

This marks the first season since 2021-22 that Georgia has appeared in the rankings in multiple weeks within the same season.
 
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Bone Dog said:
I absolutely agree, both Nova and Marquette could be ranked. Good athletes and good coaches. They’d be competitive with a lot of ranked teams: UGA Alabama TTU Baylor Minn UNC. I’m not saying they’d win against all these teams. But I think they’d be competitive games.

One key to Nova is Watson. She’s got size at 6’4” and is playing better than she was able to at ND. And Bascoe is a significant talent, and Henry and Allen are good. For Marquette, Forbes is a major talent, and Volcker and Vice are very good. And the coaches, Dillon and Consuegra are excellent motivators.
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Here's an update on Watson to show her progress from ND to Villanova. She plays less than half the minutes and has no impact on games.
 
Look out for Villanova in the future (potentially). Bascoe is the real deal-as good as any guard I have seen this year. She has the talent and played fearlessly versus UConn. If Villa. can get a 1-2+ new players, particularly some bigs, signed from any source, they could be top20 next year.
I say "potentially" since Villanova has had a few players poached via transfer portal in the past. Keeping this team together would add to the Big East.
 
BobbyJ said:
Here's an update on Watson to show her progress from ND to Villanova. She plays less than half the minutes and has no impact on games.
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Watson missed last season due to a torn ACL and may still be recovering.

Villanova has three other P4 players, all upperclassmen:

Ryanne Allen, Sr guard, Vanderbilt
Kelsey Joens (sister of Ashley), Jr guard, Iowa State
Denae Carter, Sr forward, Mississippi State

Villanova isn’t without talent
 
HopJim said:
Seemed to do well versus UConn.
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On Wednesday night? Depends on what you call well. I don’t consider zero points, 2 TOs, and a couple blocks in 14 minutes an impact performance. The point of my post was that she’s definitely “not playing better than she was able to at ND”.
 
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BobbyJ said:
On Wednesday night? Depends on what you call well. I don’t consider zero points, 2 TOs, and a couple blocks in 14 minutes an impact performance. The point of my post was that she’s definitely “not playing better than she was able to at ND”.
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It looked to me like she was key to Nova’s 1st half play. Having a big allowed players like Allen Carter and even Henry to challenge our front court, at least for a while. Without her, they’d be too small to do some of that stuff. No one is suggesting they’d crack the top 10 because of her. But against teams on the cusp of the rankings, having a decent part time big could make a huge difference. Interestingly, they beat WVU (#25) without her seeing the court.
 
bigfive said:
Villanova destroyed Massey #19 West Virginia at West Virginia 81-59, WVU’s biggest loss of the season by far.
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Before Villanova defeated then #25 West Virginia on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, they had already lost to both Fairfield & Princeton.
The week after Villanova beat #25 West Virginia, on Dec. 8 the AP Poll dropped West Virginia from the poll rankings and WV received only 1 vote in the poll while Princeton received 31 votes.
Villanova hasn't had a notable win or upset against a ranked team after beating WV.

Here's the AP poll for Week 6,, Dec. 8, 2025. The week can be changed at the top.
apnews.com

AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll

The official page for the AP Top 25 women's college basketball poll. Keep up to date and view the latest NCAA women's basketball ranking updates each week for the 2025-26 season.
apnews.com apnews.com
 
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sun said:
Villanova hasn't had a notable win or upset against a ranked team after beating WV.
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…because it went into the Big East portion of its schedule, except for the St Joe’s game, a Philly tradition for decades. Since the WVU game, ‘Nova is 15-4 with 2 of those losses to UConn. The other losses are St John’s and Marquette
 
HuskyNan said:
…because it went into the Big East portion of its schedule, except for the St Joe’s game, a Philly tradition for decades. Since the WVU game, ‘Nova is 15-4 with 2 of those losses to UConn. The other losses are St John’s and Marquette
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Villanova's scoring offense averages 72.9 points per game which nationally ranks them 70th in Division 1.

I'm sure that they'll make it to the big dance and then folks can fill out their brackets with them winning some games.
 
sun said:
Villanova's scoring offense averages 72.9 points per game which nationally ranks them 70th in Division 1.

I'm sure that they'll make it to the big dance and then folks can fill out their brackets with them winning some games.
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Rutgers got to the 2007 national championship game averaging 64.4 points per game
 
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Zarathustra said:
Of course it does matter how good your defense is. Ying and Yang, etc. etc.
Or "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing". (defense?)
Archilochus, (714? - 676 BCE) Fragment 103 or, if you prefer "The fox
has many tricks, and the hedgehog only one, but that is the best of all."
Desiderius Erasmus (1465 -1536) Adagia (1500). KK and K9, I think, would
put their vote on "defense" = the "one Big Thing" which is often considered to
"Win Championships". My apologies for taking "sun" interesting
comments out of context. However, offense is merely half of the equation.
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Massey & the NET gives Villanova fairly good overall rankings.
But Villanova only has so much gas in their tanlk.
The devil is always in the details.
 
Many fans are saying the BE is very weak. Well they may look weak when they play UConn because UConn has the ability to blow them out. Didnt UConn blow out a few number 1 seeds in the NCAAs last season. I have watched alot of games and I dont see ranked teams blowing lower conference teams like UConn has. Nova and Creighton play well against UConn even with UConn a little depleted with sick and injured players. Imo the BE isnt as weak as some think. I dont think at this point in the season that the SEC ACC and B10 have many teams in the bottom of their conference that could give Nova and Creighton a good game. Im not judging this on one game. I judging it what Ive been watching the past few weeks. Nova and Creighton are very well coached teams with discipline confidence and execution. Many of the teams in other conferences are not.
 
Centerstream said:
As has been posted before, Geno and Harry Peralta have both said publicly, and often, if UConn wasn't in the BE, Jasmine Bascoe would be the runaway BE POY.
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Okay, I'll bite. Prior to Wednesday's game, when did Geno ever say if UConn wasn't in the BE, Jasmine Boscoe would be the runaway BE POY? He certainly didn't say that in the Wednesday pregame discussion with Bob Joyce while discussing Villanova.
 
YKCornelius said:
Okay, I'll bite. Prior to Wednesday's game, when did Geno ever say if UConn wasn't in the BE, Jasmine Boscoe would be the runaway BE POY? He certainly didn't say that in the Wednesday pregame discussion with Bob Joyce while discussing Villanova.
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That and when was the last time anyone heard anything from Harry? (Admittedly, Harry doesn't get a lot of press in CT anymore.)
 
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