On a brisk Friday evening, Lancaster Avenue buzzed as spectators made their way to Finneran Pavilion on Villanova’s campus. Through the glass doors awaited a stunningly futuristic arena. The iconic arched wooden ceilings were replaced with white ceilings and daunting LED lights, ushering in a new era of basketball. Walking into the inaugural Big Five Women’s Classic, felt like just that – a new era. The Big Five Women’s Classic brought together all the local colleges, regardless of divisions and record, to compete for the one thing Philadelphians love most – bragging rights.
Lorraine Zinar, a customer service employee at Villanova University, said they were expecting about 5,000 people by the end of the evening. Which is no easy feat on a work day and night when the Sixers have a home game on the docket. The triple header tipped off at 3:30pm with a fifth place matchup between UPenn taking on LaSalle, followed by Drexel and Saint Joes for 3rd place, and lastly the championship battle between Villanova and Temple.
Cheerleaders and bands filled the stands, cheering on their alma maters. Trivia, relay contests, and free throw shootouts during timeouts created a familiar and entertaining atmosphere. It was a culmination of production value and enthusiasm that women’s basketball was long overdue for. “Anyone who’s going to come out to Villanova on a Friday night to watch women’s basketball – they are our people,” said Jen Leary of Watch Party PHL. The momentum that women’s basketball has been receiving to the public eye, has always been visible to those passionate about the game. “We’re here to get the word out and to drum up support for women’s sports in Philly. The goal is to show the WNBA and other leagues that Philly is a viable city for women’s professional sports.” The first Women’s Big 5 Classic proved true that sports can exist in Philadelphia – not only in a man’s world, but a woman’s world too.
At the conclusion of this all-Philly tripleheader, Temple took down the hosting Villanova 76-62. In the earlier matchups the Drexel Dragons were stomped by St. Joe’s, and LaSalle fell to UPenn.
Standouts from the day include Penn’s Sarah Miller, who dominated the court scoring 18 points by the end of the first half of the Quakers fifth place bout. For St. Joe’s, the duo of Mackenzie Smith and Laura Zeigler were impossible to miss as they played almost the entire game and nearly combined for as many points as the opposing Drexel team. Lastly the entire Temple Owls team showed up and scored incredibly efficiently with four players in double digits and an impressive 50% FG percentage.The key stand out among the Owls was Senior guard Tiarra East who put up 26 points, and put an end to Villanova’s hot 9-0 start.
Friday was a step in the right direction for Philadelphia’s women’s sports scene, which is ripe for improvement among the national expansion of women’s basketball taking place in the WNBA and the creation of the Unrivaled league.
The final ranking after the Women’s Big 5 Classic read:
- Temple (Champions)
- Villanova
- St. Joe’s
- Drexel
- UPenn
- La Salle
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