Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Someone had to be first; leave it to Boylan to break the barrier. The first woman inducted into the Villanova Hall of Fame, Boylan busted through those doors just as she did so many others in the course of her career. 

A frequenter of area playgrounds in her Washington, Pennsylvania hometown, where she struggled to get pickup girls against the boys who dotted the macadam, Boylan simply put her head down and played. She wound up becoming her town’s highest single-game scorer - male or female - when she dropped 53 for Immaculate Conception High, and once was described by the Philadelphia Inquirer, “possibly the best college athlete in Philadelphia, regardless of sex.’’

It was hard to argue. Along with her four-year for Villanova basketball, where she set records and led the Big 5 in scoring, Boylan also played No. 1 singles for the Wildcat tennis team. In 51 matches, she won 48. She wound up being listed in the Who’s Who of American College Athletes and was named Villanova’s most outstanding female athlete in her senior year.