VILLANOVA, Pa.—The selections for the women's basketball NCAA Tournament were announced on Sunday night live on ESPN and Villanova (23-8) earned an at-large selection as a #11 seed in the Wichita Region. This is the first time since 2018 and the 12^th time overall that the Wildcats have earned an NCAA Tournament berth. Villanova will play a first round game on Saturday against #6 seed BYU (26-3) in Ann Arbor, Mich. Game times and television information for all first round matchups will be announced later on Sunday night.
 
This year's selection to the NCAA Tournament is a fitting reward for the Wildcats outstanding season. Villanova has its highest win total since 2018 and will enter its first round game of the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country. Head coach Denise Dillon and her squad have won 20 of their last 23 games and reached the BIG EAST championship game for the first time in 19 years. Along the way the Wildcats went 15-4 in regular season conference play and tallied more than half of its 23 overall victories (12) at road and neutral sites.
 
The winner of Saturday's game between Villanova and the Cougars will advance to the second round on Monday, March 21 and take on the winner of a first round matchup between #3 seed Michigan and #14 seed American. One of the four teams in those first and second round games will move on to the Wichita Regional which takes place on March 26 & 28.
 
Friday's game will be the 20^th game in the NCAA Tournament all-time for the Wildcats, who are 8-11 in their previous 11 tournament appearances. Villanova has been a #11 seed once before, in 1989 when it was defeated by #6 seed Old Dominion. In their most recent NCAA appearance, the Wildcats went 1-1 in 2018 as a #9 seed. Villanova defeated #8 South Dakota State in a first round game in South Bend, Ind. before falling to top seed Notre Dame in the second round.
 
Villanova is led by BIG EAST Player of the Year Maddy Siegrist who ranks second in the country in scoring at 25.9 points per game. She nearly averages a double-double with a team-high 9.5 rebounds per contest. Two other Wildcats also score in double figures, including sophomore forward Lior Garzon (13.5 ppg., team-high 62 three-pointers) and graduate forward Brianna Herlihy (10.9 ppg., 8.2 rpg.).
 
Saturday's matchup will be the second ever between Villanova and BYU, who met once previously on December 1, 1995 in the Dead River Tip-Off tournament in Orono, Maine. The Wildcats won that matchup, 61-58. Villanova has recent postseason history in Ann Arbor, as the Wildcats played Michigan on its home floor in 2017 in a WNIT semifinal round game. Including the NCAA Tournament and the WNIT, this season marks Villanova's 19^th national postseason appearance in the last 22 years.