UNCASVILLE, Conn.—In the second game of the Invesco QQQ Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase on Sunday afternoon, No. 25 Villanova (9-3) fell to No. 14 Iowa State (8-2) by a final score of 74-62 at Mohegan Sun Arena. The game was the fourth this season that the Wildcats were playing against a nationally-ranked opponent and the Cyclones were the second top-15 foe on the Villanova schedule through the first seven weeks of the 2022-23 season.
 
Senior forward Maddy Siegrist led the Wildcats with 32 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks on the day. Siegrist has topped 20 points in all 12 games this season and has 63 career 20-point games to her credit. She also notched her 42^nd career double-double and fifth this season while surpassing the 30-point plateau for the fourth time this year and the 21^st time in her collegiate career.
 
Siegrist and sophomore point guard Lucy Olsen each scored in double figures and combined to make four of Villanova's five three-point field goals in the game. Olsen finished the game with 14 points and has now scored in double figures in four straight games.
 
An early run by Iowa State gave the Wildcats an uphill battle to climb for much of the opening 20 minutes. Olsen drilled a three-pointer with 4:58 to play in the first quarter which had Villanova down by just a single point at 11-10, but the Wildcats made just one basket over nearly seven minutes as the Cyclones used a 15-2 spurt to stretch the margin to 26-12 with 8:36 remaining in the second period.
 
Junior guard Maddie Burke snapped the Iowa State run with her first basket of the game with 8:19 to play in the period and Olsen made another three-pointer at the 7:29 mark of the period to trim the deficit to 26-17. Later in the period the Cyclones pulled away with a 13-4 run over the final 5:23 of the half to take a 42-23 lead into halftime.
 
"As expected it was a tough game," Villanova head coach Denise Dillon said. "Iowa State showed why they are one of the top teams in the country; they showed us that in the first half. I was pleased with our effort and the way we battled to the end, in the second half especially."
 
Villanova got back into the game with a long run to open the third quarter. Siegrist and Olsen combined to go 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the opening five minutes of the period after the Wildcats did not have a single free throw attempt in the first half. Two foul shots by Siegrist with 5:04 to play in the quarter pulled Villanova to within 11 points at 42-31 and the Wildcats defense held Iowa State scoreless until the 3:27 mark of the period. Villanova would eventually cut the margin to 10 points (47-37) with 1:31 left in the third quarter before the Cyclones scored five unanswered points to close the period.
 
Early in the game the Wildcats defense led by Siegrist and sophomore forward Christina Dalce kept Iowa State from getting into an offensive groove. Villanova had a season-high nine blocked shots on the day, including the four by Siegrist and three from Dalce. Six of those blocks came in the first 14 minutes of the game alone and the Wildcats held Cyclones leading scorer Ashley Joens to nine points on 3-of-10 shooting in the first 20 minutes of the contest.            
 
Joens (2,562) and Siegrist (2,148) are ranked first and third among all active Division I players in career scoring and the pair have combined for 4,710 career points. They each had nine points at halftime of Sunday's contest before Siegrist poured in 23 points in the second 20 minutes. She was 5-of-11 from the field and 12-of-13 from the foul line in the second half.
 
"Maddy was as advertised if not better," Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. "I have coached against a lot of great players and I don't like to say the best, but she's on the list. It's incredible the way she moves and the things they run. She is also a lot better defensive player than she looked on video. I loved her game and everything about it. Kudos to her and the coaching staff because she just kept competing."
 
Villanova returns home this coming Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. against Big 5 foe La Salle.
 
NOTES: Sunday's game was the first ever meeting between Villanova and Iowa State … The Cyclones are the second nationally-ranked Big 12 opponent the Wildcats faced this year … Villanova also took on then-No. 21 Baylor at the Gulf Coast Showcase last month … The Wildcats are 3-3 all-time at Mohegan Sun Arena … Villanova is 2-2 in neutral site games this year … Siegrist moved past Courtney Mix into third place on the Wildcats all-time rebounding list with 876 career rebounds … Villanova has made at least one three-pointer in 593 straight games.