VILLANOVA, PA. – In women's Big 5 action on Saturday afternoon at the Finneran Pavilion, the No. 25 Villanova Wildcats registered an 82-59 win over the visiting Saint Joseph's Hawks. With the victory, Villanova improves to 9-2 overall and 3-0 in Big 5 play, while the Hawks fall to 9-1 on the year and 2-1 in City Series action. 

Villanova took control of the game early racing to a 14-4 lead five minutes into the contest. The Wildcats made 10-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from three in the opening quarter to take a 28-8 lead after the game's first 10 minutes. The Villanova defense held Saint Joseph's to 15.4 percent shooting (2-of-13) in the first quarter. 

The Wildcats continued their hot shooting in the second quarter going 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from long distance. Villanova finished the first half connecting in 17-of-24 from the floor (70.8%) and 7-of-11 from long distance (63.6%) en route to a 45-26 halftime advantage. 

Trailing 61-36 midway through the third quarter, Saint Joseph's went on an 11-0 run to cut the Villanova lead to 61-47 at the 1:32 mark. The Hawks went 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from the foul line during the spurt. 

After each team failed to score on its next possession, Villanova regained the momentum when sophomore guard Lucy Olsen drained a three at the third quarter buzzer to give the Wildcats a 64-47 lead after three. 

Villanova out scored the Hawks by a 13-6 margin over the first 5:04 of the fourth quarter to take a commanding 77-53 lead. Senior Maddy Siegrist was dominant in the run scoring nine of Villanova's 13 points. 

Siegrist led the way in the win with 31 points and eight rebounds. She was 11-of-20 from the field, 4-of-6 from three and 5-of-5 from the foul line. Olsen finished with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while junior Maddie Burke had 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 effort from behind the arc. Sophomore center Christina Dalce chipped in with nine points, eight rebounds, three assists and a block. 

Saint Joseph's was paced by Talya Brugler with 14 points and Mackenize Smith who had 12 points. 

For the game, Villanova was 29-of-53 from the field (54.7%), 13-of-20 from three (65.0%) and 11-of-13 from the foul line (84.6%), while the Hawks shot 37.0 percent from the floor (20-of-54), 31.8 percent from downtown (7-of-22) and 80.0 percent from the charity stripe (12-of-15).  Villanova owned a 34-25 advantage on the backboards.

Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 18, when the Wildcats will take on No. 10 Iowa State at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. 

NOTES: The 82 points are the most by Villanova in the series…Villanova has won seven in a row over Saint Joseph's…The Wildcats improve to 128-41 all-time in Big 5 play…Villanova is 39-7 in its last 46 Big 5 games…Today was Denise Dillon's 50th win as the Villanova head coach…Maddy Siegrist now has 20 career games of 30 points or more…Maddy Siegrist went over the 2,100 career point mark and now has 2,116 to her credit…Villanova scored 20 points off of the 12 Saint Joseph's turnovers…The Wildcats had an assist on 19 of their 29 made field goals.