The Wildcats will play their second home game in three days when Holy Cross visits the Finneran Pavilion on Tuesday evening. Villanova enters play with a 2-1 overall record, while the Crusaders are 2-2 on the young season. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
Villanova and Holy Cross will be meeting for the first time since 1990 when the two teams battle on Tuesday night. The all-time series is currently tied at 2-2. Holy Cross tallied a 69-46 win over Villanova in the last meeting on Dec. 20, 1990.
 
Entering play versus Holy Cross, the Wildcats have won 25 of their last 27 home games. Villanova captured 11 straight home contests to finish the 2021-22 season and were 13-2 at home last year. The Wildcats won the 2023-24 home opener on Sunday with a 90-62 win over Temple. Under fourth-year head coach Denise Dillon, the Wildcats are 33-7 (.825) in games played at the Finneran Pavilion. 

Holy Cross head coach Maureen Magarity has a family connection to the Villanova women's basketball program. Magarity's aunt, Rosemary Magarity Knouse, played at Villanova from 1988-92. As a freshman in 1988-89, she was named to the BIG EAST All-Rookie team. In another Villanova connection. Magarity's father, Dave, was the head coach at Marist College when Maddy Siegrist's father, George, played for the Red Foxes. Siegrist went on to be an assistant at Marist under Dave Magarity.

Junior guard Lucy Olsen was sensational in Sunday's win over Temple. In 33 minutes of action, Olsen scored a career-high 40 points on 12-of-22 shooting, including a 4-of-6 effort from three-point range and a 12-of-13 performance from the foul line. This is the seventh 40-point game in program history, and she becomes the fourth Wildcat to accomplish the feat.

Junior center Christina Dalce was dominant on the backboards in Sunday's victory. In 29 minutes of action, Dalce grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds (10 offensive) to go with seven points, three assists, one steal and one block. She has 33 rebounds in the first three games of the season for an average of 11.0 per contest.

The Wildcats scoring defense entering play versus Holy Cross currently stands at 55.6 points per game and opponents are shooting just .366 from the field (67-of-183) and .200 from three-point range (10-of-50).  Villanova has also forced 44 turnovers in the first three games for an average of 14.7 per game.

Villanova will hit the road this upcoming weekend with an away game at Wake Forest on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for noon.

 
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