ROSS TWP — Two teams very familiar with each other met in Saturday's PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal playoff game.

And defense ruled the day.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, which had experienced its own offensive struggles earlier in the game, held Villa Maria to a 5-of-24 effort from the field in the second half, sparking a 40-30 victory at North Hills Middle School.

The Victors defeated CWNC in this round last year. The Trojanettes then defeated Villa, 40-34, in the season-opener at the Oakland Catholic Tournament back in December.

“It wasn't so much about getting revenge for last year as just trying to build off the win earlier this season,” said CWNC sophomore guard Emma Pospisil, who scored six points in Saturday's win.

“They know us so well,” said CWNC coach Molly Rottmann of the Victors. “They know what we run and our personnel. I knew it was going to be a battle either way. I thought how we responded defensively was going to determine the outcome and we executed very well at that end of the floor.

“Sometimes, it may seem like they're not paying attention, but something is sinking in.”

The Victors were cold from the outside virtually the entire game, making just 2-of-18 shots from beyond the arc.

“They have a lot of outside shooters,” Rottmann said. “And they tried to run stuff to get No. 44 (Villa senior forward Sydney Palermo) isolated in the post, but we double-teamed her and she got in foul trouble.”

Palermo finished the game with just three points.

The result was an offense that slowed to a trickle in the third period. Villa, which had led 16-15 at halftime, scored just four points in the quarter and trailed 26-20 with eight minutes to play.

The Victors received a 3-pointer from Addy Cross with 6:27 left in the game, cutting CWNC's lead to 30-24, but they had little time to enjoy the momentum. Just 20 seconds later, Pospisil drained a trey of her own. Tess Myers hit a 3-pointer with 2:17 left, pushing the Trojanette lead to 38-26.

CWNC jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, then went eight minutes without scoring a point. Pospisil's first trey ended the drought with 3:29 left before halftime, trimming Villa's lead to 11-10.

Pospisil is not a starter, but came off the bench to make two crucial 3-pointers in the game.

“Sometimes, you have to come out and be in the zone right away,” she said. “You have to have confidence in yourself and just let it fly.”

Dani Short and Kylee Lewandowski both scored a game-high 10 points for CWNC.

Molly Mraz paced the Victors (22-5) with nine points.

The Trojanettes (25-3) will face Berks Catholic (24-5) in Tuesday's semifinal round at a time and site to be determined.

“Who knows what will happen Tuesday, but you have to get there first,” said Rottmann. “This was a big step forward for us.”

VILLA MARIA 30

Emily Bauer 2 0-1 4, Addy Cross 3 0-0 7, Ava Waid 1 0-0 2, Molly Mraz 2 5-6 9, Sydney Palermo 1 1-1 3, Cassidy Creager 1 0-0 2, Hannah Labonte 1 0-0 3, Carly LaZar 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 6-8 30.

C.W. NORTH CATHOLIC 40

Emma Pospisil 2 0-0 6, Cassie Foster 0 4-4 4, Kylee Lewandowski 4 0-0 10, Tess Myers 2 3-4 8, Dani Short 4 2-5 10, Kari Karanikos 0 2-6 2, Ashley Robbins 0 0-1 0, Amanda Bucklew 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 11-20 40.

Villa Maria 7 9 4 10 — 30

CWNC7 8 11 14 — 40

3-point goals: Villa Maria 2 (Cross, Labonte); CWNC 5 (Pospisil 2, Lewandowski 2, Myers).

Tuesday: CWNC vs. Berks Catholic, 7 p.m., Bald Eagle Area High School, Wingate