Villanova is set to host the No. 12 DePaul Blue Demons in a BIG EAST contest on Sunday, Feb. 23. The Wildcats enter play with a 15-11 overall record and a 9-6 conference mark, while the Blue Demons are 25-3 overall and 15-1 in league action. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m., at the Finneran Pavilion.
Wildcat head coach
Harry Perretta, who is in his 42nd and final season, will coach in his final regular season game at the Finneran Pavilion on Sunday afternoon. During his Villanova career, Perretta has guided the Wildcats to a 293-153 (.656) mark in home games at the Pavilion (1986-2017) and Finneran Pavilion (2018-present). When the Wildcats called Jake Nevin Field House home, Perretta led Villanova to a 104-33 mark (.759) in the 137 games played there.
With Sunday's game being the final regular season home game of the 2019-20 season, the Villanova Athletic Department will honor the women's basketball senior class of 2020 prior to tip-off. The three seniors being honored include
Mary Gedaka,
Bridget Herlihy and
Cameron Onken. Throughout their four-year careers, this group of seniors has helped lead the Wildcats to three 20-win seasons, a 77-48 overall record (.612), a 41-28 Big East Conference mark (.588), one NCAA Tournament appearance, two WNIT berths, including a trip to the WNIT semifinals in 2017.
Two of the most tenured coaches in women's college basketball will square off on Sunday when Perretta and the Wildcats play against head coach Doug Bruno and the DePaul Blue Demons. Together, the duo has coached in 2,398 career games and have a combined 1,537 wins. Perretta is 779-487 in 42 years as the Wildcat mentor, while Bruno has a 36-year career mark of 758-374 (718-344 in 34 seasons at DePaul). Perretta currently ranks 7th on the NCAA women's basketball active all-time Division I win list with Bruno ranking 12th on that list.
A big reason for Villanova's 61-47 win over Marquette on Friday night was due in large part to the Wildcat defensive effort. Villanova held Marquette to its lowest scoring output of the season and to 21 points below the Golden Eagles season average of 68.2 points per contest. It was only the fourth time in 25 all-time meetings between the teams that the Wildcats held Marquette below 50 points. Stifling defense in the second quarter set the tone for the rest of the game. Villanova outscored the Golden Eagles by a 14-5 count in the period and pulled away from a 13-13 tie after one quarter of play to take a 27-18 lead at halftime. Marquette came up empty at the offensive end on 10 consecutive possessions in the second period, going 0-for-3 from the field with seven turnovers. For the year, Villanova is allowing 59.2 points per game.
Villanova is led in scoring and rebounding by redshirt freshman Maddy Siegrist who is averaging 19.2 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per contest. Gedaka is second on the team in scoring with a 17.4 points per contest average.
