Villanova will travel to South Orange, N.J., on Sunday afternoon to take on the Seton Hall Pirates. The Wildcats enter play with a 17-6 overall record and an 11-3 BIG EAST mark, while the Pirates are 12-10 overall and 7-7 in league play. Tip-off at Walsh gymnasium is set for 1 p.m.
The Wildcats and Pirates will meet for the 71st time on Sunday afternoon. Villanova currently leads the all-time series by a 46-24 margin. The Wildcats have won nine of the last 11 versus Seton Hall.
After starting the season 3-5, Villanova has won nine in a row and 14 of its last 15 to improve to 17-6 on the year. A big reason for the Wildcats 3-5 start was due in large part to the absence of junior forward
Maddy Siegrist who missed six games with an injury. In those six contests, Villanova registered a 3-3 mark. The Wildcats are 14-3 with Siegrist in the line-up this year.
Sunday's match-up will be the second meeting of the year between Villanova and Seton Hall. The Wildcats tallied a 76-73 win over the Pirates in a game played at Villanova on Dec. 31. In the victory, Siegrist led the way with 23 points and nine rebounds, while
Brianna Herlihy had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Lior Garzon was the third Wildcat in double figures with 14 points. Seton was paced by Andra Espinoza-Hunter who had 20 points and Sidney Cooks who tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds. For the game, Villanova was 30-of-64 from the field (46.9%), 8-of-30 from three-point range (26.7%) and 8-of-12 from the foul line (66.7%), while Seton Hall shot 38.2 percent from the floor (26-of-68), 44.4 percent from long distance (8-of-18) and 92.9 percent from the charity stripe (13-of-14).
Siegrist was simply sensational in Friday night's 74-63 overtime win over Marquette when she averaged a point per minute scoring 42 points in 42 minutes of action. The 42 points came on 14-of-25 shooting, including a 2-of-6 effort from three-point range and a 12-of-12 performance from the foul line. She scored 16 of her 42 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Siegrist sank two free throws with under a second left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
The Wildcats will conclude a stretch of playing five games in a 10-day span with Sunday's game at Seton Hall. Villanova is currently 4-0 in the grueling stretch. After earning a road win at St. John's on Feb. 4, the Wildcats defeated Georgetown on Feb. 6, Connecticut on Feb. 9 and Marquette on Friday.
Villanova will return to action on Sunday, Feb. 20, when the DePaul Blue Demons visit the Finneran pavilion. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
