Local connection helps ’Nova advance to women’s Sweet 16
>> The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament dangles an enticing carrot to its top teams, the unique opportunity to hold first- and second-round games on its home floor.
Villanova knows better than anyone how unique it is.
It had been 35 years since the WIldcats last hosted NCAA Tournament games before Saturday and why Finneran Pavilion was packed Monday night when the Wildcats hosted No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast in the NCAA second round.
It was appropriately home sweet home for No. 4 seed Villanova on a night it advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 76-57 victory over No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast and set the program record for wins in a season by improving to 30-6.
Every team loves homecourt advantage. But it’s especially meaningful for the current Villanova squad, the homegrown home team.
Seven of the Wildcats’ 14 players grew up within an hour of Villanova, including three starters, senior guard Brooke Mullin (Langhorne/Neshaminy), sophomore point guard Lucy Olsen (Collegeville/ Spring-Ford) and junior guard Maddie Burke (Doylestown/Central Bucks West).
Add in the next two in the rotation, junior Bella Runyan (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown Friends) and sophomore Kaitlyn Orihel (Newtown/Archbishop Wood). Freshmen Annie Welde (Havertown/ Cardinal O’Hara) and Maggie Grant (Downingtown/Archbishop Carroll) are ones for the future.
And that list doesn’t count sophomore starting forward Christina Dalce, who merits partial credit as a Edison, N.J., native who played AAU with Orihel and the Philadelphia Belles.
Put it all together and there’s a genuine regional construction to a team making national noise as No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25, the program’s highest ranking ever.
Consider their opponent Monday, ASUN conference champion Florida Gulf Coast (33-4), which featured one player from Florida
on its roster, or the program Villanova measures itself against, Big East powerhouse UConn, which features six international players and one member from the region. Or their next opponent, Miami, which features two Florida-born players on its roster. The No. 9 seed Miami, which upset No. 1 Indiana on Monday, and Villanova square off in a Sweet 16 Friday matinee (2:30 p.m.) in Greenville, S.C.
College teams and pros alike are celebrated as a representation of their city or region, yet few have a roster that truly represents.
It’s not just cheering for laundry on Lancaster Ave.
To head coach Denise Dillon, who earned her 400th career victory Monday, the organic build of her roster stems from simplicity.
“I always think it’s important to try to get the best in your area. Don’t overthink it. Look right in your backyard, and then expand out,” Dillon said.
“I think some of the best basketball you have is on the East Coast here. So if you can stay in that region, the distance, it’s not too far, their families are here, they can go home and escape. … I think Villanova is the best in the city so you’re going to draw the attention of the best players out of high school.”
The Philadelphia region doesn’t get to claim Siegrist — she’s from Poughkeepsie, N.Y. — and it’s hard to dispute that she is the leading reason for Nova playing into the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003. The Villanova and Big 5 all-time leading scorer added another record in her transcendent career Monday with her 36th consecutive 20-point game, the most by any Division I player this century, while cruising to a 31-point performance.
The standing ovation Siegrist received when her record was announced or the roar when she checked out of the game for possibly the final time at the Pavilion might make her an honorary Philadelphian just yet.
But the second-leading reason for the Wildcats’ success is their connectivity, both on and off court.
“It’s a good vibe to the team,” Burke said. “Especially off the court, it’s a great group and the fact that we’ve known each other for a long time, that translates on the court. It’s been really special.”
Burke is in her first year with Villanova after transferring from Penn State, but with longstanding relationships with new teammates, the Central Bucks West product was immediately at home.
“We’ve all known each other since we were in middle school and through high school,” Burke said. “Being able to know their families, know a lot of the same people, Philly basketball is just different. It’s a connection. If you know Philly basketball people, everybody knows everybody in that group.”
When Burke joined this year, she brought along a photo with her and Runyan together at a camp in middle school - ‘We look like babies,’ Burke said.
That connection is how Burke (36 starts, 7.2 ppg) could sit at her locker in the afterglow of Monday’s win, look at Olsen sitting next to her and playfully remind her about the District 1 semifinals in 2020 when Burke’s CB West beat Olsen’s Spring-Ford on the way to the Bucks’ district title and Burke earning Pa. 6A Player of the Year.
Olsen prefers these days of joining forces.
“Playing against them, I never wanted to go up against them. Now that I get to play with them, it’s amazing,” Olsen said. “And all of our families get to come to these games, being right around home. So it’s just awesome.”
Olsen had a special high school career as SpringFord’s all-time leading scorer, three-time Pottstown Mercury Player of the Year, two-time AllState first team and 2021 Miss PA Basketball.
She put a marker down on what may become a special career at Villanova after putting up her second career double-double with a career-high 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting and 10 rebounds along with seven assists. Her sophomore progression garnered second team AllBig East honors while scoring 12.5 points per game (second on the team) to go with team-bests in assists (162) and steals (49).
Mullin is the longtime local fixture in the Wildcats’ starting five, a threeyear starter coinciding with Dillon’s three seasons in charge. Back in 2019, she was second-team AllState averaging 15.9 ppg while leading Neshaminy to the PIAA semifinals.
Now, she is looked upon as the Wildcats’ shutdown defender.
“Every single night she’s on the other team’s best player, and that’s her role, and you know she’s going to do it great,” Siegrist says.
Monday’s closing moments weren’t lost on Nova’s two seniors, Mullin and Siegrist
“It really hit me at the end of the game,” Mullin said. “Maddy was like, ‘Look around. We’re going to the Sweet 16.’ It was great, looking out and seeing my parents, it’s very special.”
Having those closest nearby and in support enhances what has been brewing for the Villanova women and what was earned by throwing their own Pavilion party the previous three days.
“It’s really special, especially now because a lot of my friends and family are coming to the games. It’s great to see because I only live 35 minutes away from school and I always get to go home,” Mullin said. “It’s special to get to play for the people in your area and representing them.”
In a year where only one Philadelphia school made the NCAA tournament, there’s no better representative.