Villanova is in Uncasville, Conn., this weekend for the 2022 BIG EAST Tournament. The Wildcats will open-up play on Saturday, March 5, in the quarterfinal round when two-seeded Villanova takes on the seven seed St. John's Red Storm. Tip-off at the Mohegan Sun Arena is set for 7 p.m.
The Wildcats will be playing in their 39th BIG EAST Tournament. Villanova owns an all-time record of 34-35 in BIG EAST Tournament play with three tournament titles to its credit, capturing the crown in 1986, 1987 and 2003. In the past 38 Big East Tournaments, the Wildcats have advanced to the semifinals 14 times and the title game on four occasions.
For her efforts this past season, junior forward Maddy Siegrist earned BIG EAST Player of the Year honors. Siegrist becomes the first Wildcat to earn conference player of the year accolades since Lisa Angelotti in 1987-88 and this marks the fifth time that a Villanova player was named BIG EAST Player of the Year. In addition to Angelotti, Shelly Pennefather garnered the award in three straight seasons from 1984-87.
Second year Wildcat head coach Denise Dillon has been named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year. Picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll, Dillon led Villanova to a 21-7 overall record and a 15-4 league mark which was good enough for a second place finish. This is the fifth time that Dillon has been named a conference coach of the year. During her Drexel career she was a four-time CAA Coach of the Year. In her two years at the helm of the Villanova program, she has led the Wildcats to a 38-14 record.
Prior to this season, Villanova had the BIG EAST Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in the same season once before. During the 1985-86 season, Shelly Pennefather was the conference player of the year, while Harry Perretta was the league's coach of the year.
This will be the eighth time in program history that Villanova will be the No. 2 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and first since 2016. Villanova is 9-6 all-time as the second seed in the conference tournament and have won one BIG EAST title as the 2-seed (1986).
Villanova enters play in the BIG EAST Tournament with a 21-7 overall record. This is the 20th season of 20 wins or more in program history and first since 2017-18 when the Wildcats were 23-9. It also marks the seventh, 20-win season as a collegiate head coach for Wildcat mentor Denise Dillon who had six, 20-win campaigns during her 17- year Drexel career.
With a win over St. John's, Villanova will advance to Sunday's semifinal round where they will take on the winner of the Creighton/Seton Hall game.
