By Mel Greenberg
Several years ago when Villanova was considered to have been slighted by the NCAA tournament committee, an official later noted on the side how the Wildcats' fortunres rose and fell during the final day of deliberations before the bracket was announced.
"They were in the tournament and out of the tournament several times," the official explained of a process the Guru got to experience first hand several weeks ago participating in the Mock women's committee sessions at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.
On Saturday, coach Harry Perretta's team went through a smiliar roller coaster that left the Wildcats hanging on the edge for the final conference playoff slot going into the last day of the regular season on Monday night.
It was a day Villanova could have taken care of its own destiny and was theoretically in next week's Big East mix put on hold throughout the afternoon at the Pavilion exchanging leads before succumbing, 71-64, to Marquette.
That left the Wildcats looking at the scoreboard for help from friends elsewhere in the conference.
Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, a Big Five Hall of Famer and St. Joseph's graduate, helped the cause by taking down Seton Hall.
That left it up to Pittsburgh coach Agnus Berenato, who is a native of South Jersey, and her Panthers to do likewise against South Florida.
But the Bulls, the host school for the Women's Final Four in Tampa, Fla., prevailed by a point at the finish to carry the waning bid into Monday night.
The Wildcats (15-13, 5-10) will travel to Kentucky to play Louisville (*20-8, 9-6) as a heavy underdog. Meanwhile, Marquette (16-12, 8-7), having temporarily taken Villanova aside, can put Perretta's group back in play by beating South Florida (14-14, 4-11)
In Saturday's action, after Wildcats seniors Stacie Witman and Claire Hannenberg were honored, Witman went on to score 19 points, Lisa Karcic scored 12, and Laura Kurz had 10 points.
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