VILLANOVA -- The duPont Swimming Center can be a tough place for a visiting team to swim. Forced to sit in the bleachers along with family and fans, the distractions can cause a team to lose its concentration.

The women's swimming and diving team could have fallen victim to these distractions, but instead it pulled together and rocked two-time defending Big East Champion Villanova by a whopping 213-85 count.

"I didn't think our concentration, as far as some of the (team), was as good as it could have been," Coach Bob Krimmel said of the first half of the meet. "And they definitely did a better job on that the second half."

Junior sprinter Sarah Duttera agreed the team's seating arrangements were distracting.

"I wanted to go over and say hi to my parents who I haven't seen since December, so it is a little distracting," she said.

During a break midway through the meet, Krimmel gathered his troops and voiced his discontent with the team's apparent lack of concentration, as well as its poor execution of fundamentals, such as final turns.

And the Lady Lions responded.

Handily winning five of the final six events, the Lady Lions piled more points onto their already-impressive lead.

"I was really pleased that we did (everything) better the second half than we did the first half," Krimmel said.

Among the list of top performers for the Lady Lions was Duttera, who swam on the winning 400-yard medley relay team, notched a third-place finish in the 50 freestyle and touched out teammate Jen Baird for a win in the 100 butterfly.

"That was kind of surprising -- Jen usually whips me in the fly," Duttera said.

Freshman Tiffany Crandell also put forth a remarkable performance. She and fellow breaststroker Julie Krail held their own against 'Nova's Lisa Flood, a 1992 Olympian and NCAA 200 breaststroke champion.

But Crandell's stellar effort took place in the 400 Individual Medley, where she dropped three seconds off her previous season-best time.

"It hurt a lot, but I did my best time, (and) I feel like I can do better when I'm more rested," she said.

Despite Villanova's Big East crown, several Lady Lions were not expecting the 'Cats to provide Big Ten-caliber competition. Duttera said the Lady Wildcats lacked depth in many events, and junior distance freestylist Regan Stacey agreed.

"The competition was sparse in my events -- there wasn't really a lot of competition," said Stacey, who won both the 500 and 1,000 free.

While Villanova was not as strong as expected, the Lady Lions -- who Krimmel said have matured greatly in the past month -- can use the win to generate excitement for the upcoming Big Ten Championships.

"We're not completely rested yet, and I just feel that there's bigger and better things ahead," Crandell said.