Villanova

Afterward, Villanova coach Andy Talley was so wrung out that he had trouble distinguishing between relief and joy. There was plenty of both for the Wildcats yesterday. Villanova survived a street fight, beating Fordham, 14-9, when quarterback Tom Colombo hit tight end Scott Donald with a 5-yard pass play with 2 minutes, 51 seconds remaining. The win gave the Wildcats, No. 7 in the NCAA's Division I-AA rankings, a 10-1 record, the best in school history. It also gave them the Yankee Conference berth in the Division I-AA playoffs.

The Villanova women were unable to score a basket during the final 8 minutes, 23 seconds of last night's game, a fatal flaw that resulted in a 52-38 loss to Providence in Rhode Island. The teams were tied at 37 when the Wildcats' woes began. Providence stole the basketball six times during Villanova's futile stretch. The game was the Big East opener for both teams. Providence is 10-4, Villanova 10-3. In the region: Renata Neal had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and West Chester shot 56.7 percent in beating host Wilmington, 82-64.

Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright put together another terrific recruiting class. No way to know for sure which players ultimately will have the biggest impact, but anybody who has seen him play live or watched him on tape knows that freshman guard James Bell is a highlight-film athlete with serious game. Unfortunately, Bell, from Montverde (Fla.) Academy, won't be playing any basketball for at least a few months. He has stress fractures in the tibias of both legs. He will be re-evaluated in October by Villanova team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Rob Good.

When: Saturday at 3:30 p.m., at McGuirk Stadium, Amherst, Mass. TV/Radio: TCN; ESPN-AM (950) Records: UMass, 5-3 overall, 3-2 Colonial Athletic Association; Villanova, 1-8, 0-6. Coaches: UMass, Kevin Morris (3d season, 16-14); Villanova, Andy Talley (27th season, 189-115-1). Series: UMass leads, 12-11-0. Last season, the Minutemen rallied to knock off Villanova in four overtimes, 32-24. THINGS TO WATCH In a snowy loss, Chris Polony showed improvement last week.

Of all the footballs Villanova has caught this season, perhaps none was more important than the one linebacker Marquis Kirkland snared yesterday to clinch a 20-14 win over Northeastern in a Colonial Athletic Association game at Parsons Field. Northeastern (2-7, 1-4 CAA) was trailing, 20-14, in the fourth quarter when it drove to a first down at Villanova's 13-yard line. Kirkland then intercepted an Anthony Orio pass that was deflected by wide receiver Chris Plum with 5 minutes, 39 seconds remaining.

Malik Allen, a 6-9 1/2 power forward/ center from Shawnee High in Medford, N.J., will announce for Villanova this afternoon, the Daily News has learned. Allen visited Southern Cal last weekend and also was interested in Virginia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Duke. But Villanova got in early and stayed in. Allen will make his verbal commitment at a 2:30 p.m. news conference at his school. The early signing period begins next month. Shawnee (30-1) was ranked in the top 10 nationally last year and did not lose until its final game, a three-point defeat to St. Anthony, of Jersey City, in the New Jersey Tournament of Champions.

T.J. Caouette announced yesterday he is going to attend Villanova, giving the Wildcats a 6-foot-7 forward who is considered one of the better basketball players ever to come out of the state of Maine. Villanova also gets the No. 1 student in the senior class at Winthrop High and a high school track star. Last spring, Caouette won the shot put, the javelin, the discus and the triple jump at the state small-school track meet. As a sophomore, he won a state hurdles championship.

Radio: ESPN-AM (950). Records: James Madison 4-2 overall, 1-2 Colonial Athletic Association; Villanova, 4-2, 2-1. Coaches: James Madison, Mickey Matthews (13th season, 86-53). Villanova, Andy Talley (26th season, 183-104-1). Series: James Madison leads, 10-8. James Madison outlook: The Dukes are ranked No. 11 in the Football Championship Subdivision. They dropped a 28-14 outcome to visiting New Hampshire last week on homecoming day at JMU. The Dukes are scoring just 20 points a game, but they are giving up only 13.3.

Credit the Dillon factor for Villanova's 76-65 victory over Manhattan in the first round of the Wildcat Christmas Holiday Tournament at duPont Pavilion yesterday. It's right there in the game notes. When sophomore Denise Dillon scores 12 or more points, the Wildcats win. When she doesn't, they don't. "I don't believe it's true. That's really weird," Dillon said after matching her career high with 22 points to send the Wildcats (4-3) into today's 3 p.m. title game against Fordham (7-1)

The tease continues. The Villanova Wildcats kept up their frantic fight for an NCAA bid by defeating Providence, 75-65, last night at duPont Pavilion to run their winning streak to five games. The Wildcats' final regular-season game is Sunday at Syracuse, where a victory would make them 14-13 overall and 11-7 in the Big East. If the Wildcats win, say, two games in the Big East tournament, they probably will get their third straight NCAA invitation on the basis of a strong finish, 16 victories and their tough schedule.