Senior standout Caroline Coyer could only watch from the bench as the clocked ticked down to zero.
For 16 of the last 20 years, the Villanova women’s basketball team had won its first game in the Big East Tournament. At the McGrath-Phillips Arena in Chicago last Sunday, however, No. 7 Creighton sent No. 2 ‘Nova home early in a 57-48 upset.
The team certainly missed the senior leadership of Coyer, sidelined after a torn ACL during late February ended her Villanova career in devastating fashion. Junior forward Samantha Wilkes had a stellar performance of 18 points and seven rebounds in an attempt to fill the void, but it was not enough.