CHICAGO, Ill. – The Villanova Wildcats traveled to the Windy City on Monday afternoon, where they fell to the No. 18 DePaul Blue Demons by a score of 94-82. With the loss, Villanova drops to 7-2 overall and 2-2 in Big East play, while DePaul improves to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in league action. 
 
The first quarter went back and forth with neither able to open-up more than a five point advantage as the Blue Demons would lead 20-19 after one. Villanova was 8-of-16 from the field for 50.0 percent in the opening 10 minutes, while DePaul was 9-of-19 for 47.4 percent. The forward tandem of senior Sarah Mortensen and sophomore Maddy Siegrist led the Wildcats in the first stanza with Mortensen scoring eight points and Siegrist six points.
  
Following a Taliyah Medina lay-up that gave the Wildcats a 31-30 lead midway through the second quarter, the Blue Demons responded with seven straight points to take a 37-31 advantage with 4:34 left until halftime.  Villanova trailed 43-35 when freshman Bella Runyan scored on a driving lay-up and Siegrist converted a conventional three-point play to bring the Wildcats within three at 43-40.
 
DePaul would finish the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 54-43 lead at halftime.
 
The Blue Demons led by as many as 15 in the third quarter and took a 78-64 lead after three.
 
Villanova stated the fourth quarter on a 10-2 spurt to cut the DePaul advantage to 80-74 with 7:52 to play. The 10 Wildcat points included a three-ball by sophomore guard Kenzie Gardler, three free throws by Siegrist, a lay-up by freshman Lior Garzon and two foul shots by senior forward Brianna Herlihy.
 
Following a DePaul timeout, the Blue Demons went on a decisive 14-4 run to take a 94-78 lead with 1:53 remaining. DePaul got three-balls from Darrione Rogers and Lexi Held as five different players scored during the run.
 
In the loss, Siegrist led all scorers with 31 points to go with nine rebounds, five assists and four blocks. She was 12-of-24 from the field, 1-of-5 from three-point range and 6-of-7 from the foul line. Mortensen finished with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Garzon added a career-high 14 points on a 5-of-7 shooting effort (3-of-4 from three). Herlihy was the fourth Wildcat in double figures with 10 points.
 
DePaul was paced by Sonya Morris with 22 points and Rogers who had 21. Rogers was 5-of-8 from three-point range.
 
For the game, Villanova was 32-of-62 from the field (51.6%), 6-of-15 from three-point range (40.0%) and 12-of-17 from the foul line (70.6%), while DePaul shot 44.7 percent from the floor (34-of-76), 43.3 percent from long distance (13-of-30) and 92.9 percent from the charity stripe (13-of-14). DePaul owned a 40-35 advantage on the backboards.
 
Villanova is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 6, with a road game at Seton Hall. Tip-off is set for 1p.m.
 
NOTES: Today was the third 30-point game of the year for Maddy Siegrist and fourth of her career…The Wildcats were credited with an assist on 24 of their 32 made field goals…Villanova has now made a three-point field goal in 533 consecutive games…The Villanova bench scored 24 points in today's game…Taliyah Medina played a season-high 18 minutes in today's contest…Villanova falls to 1-4 all-time at Wintrust Arena.