NEW YORK – For the second straight year, Villanova senior forward
Maddy Siegrist has been named the BIG EAST Player of the Year. She was a unanimous selection this year, in addition to earning first team All-Conference accolades.
Sophomore guard
Lucy Olsen also garnered All-BIG EAST honors earning second team distinction.
Siegrist has led Villanova to a 26-5 overall record and a 17-3 BIG EAST Conference mark by leading the country in scoring at 29.0 points per game to go with a 9.1 rebounds per contest average. She is currently shooting 51.6 percent from the field (333-of-645), 38.4 percent from three-point range (48-of-125) and 84.5 percent from the foul line (185-of-219). She has scored 20 or more points in all 31 games this year, including 13 games of 30 points or more. Her best effort of the season came against Seton Hall on Feb. 11 when she tallied 50 points on 20-of-26 shooting.
She became the all-time leading scorer in the history of Villanova basketball this season for both men and women (currently has 2,714 points), in addition to becoming the all-time leading scorer in BIG EAST Conference history for men and women with 1,693 points for regular season conference games only.
Siegrist, a record 17-time BIG EAST Player of the Week, joins Connecticut's Kerry Bascom, Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins and Villanova's Shelly Pennefather as the only repeat BIG EAST Players of the Year. She was also named BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday, marking the ninth time the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year was also the BIG EAST Player of the Year.
Olsen has had a breakout year in her sophomore campaign. She started all 31 games and averaged 12.4 points per game to go with 4.1 rebounds per contest and a team-high 134 assists. Olsen has scored double figures in 20 of the 31 contests. As a freshman last year, she was an All-Freshman Team selection.
The No. 11 ranked Wildcats will be the 2-seed in the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament. Villanova will play the winner of the DePaul/Providence game on Saturday, March 4, at 7 p.m. The tournament will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
