The Guru Report: Siegrist Scores 37 as No. 11 Villanova Edges Creighton to Advance to the Big East Title Round

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – A year after Villanova had considered the Wildcats had done all they believed necessary to earn their way into the NCAA women’s tournament before facing Connecticut for the Big East championship here at the Mohegan Sun Arena they are back now believing their season’s work entitles them for even more.

 

For the second straight day at the annual Big East donnybrook coach Denise Dillon pulled off another nail-biting finish, this time a 63-61 semifinal win Sunday night over Creighton being one of the very few listed in the second NCAA tournament committee’s top 16 reveal to escape the carnage that engulfed elite teams in the other conference events this weekend.

 

Monday night’s championship will feature the top-seeded Huskies, looking the way they usually look when March arrives on the calendar delivering an 81-52 payback to fifth-seeded Marquette that had hit them with their first two-game losing streak last month for the first time in several decades.

 

And then there is Villanova, 11^th-ranked in the nation matching the Wildcats’ best-ever showing in the Associated Press women’s poll but likely to be in the top 10 for the first time in the program’s history when the new rankings are released Monday afternoon several hours before the two teams go at it beginning with the 7 p.m. tipoff on FS1.

 

A year ago, Villanova (28-5) was characterized by outsiders as a bubble squad in NCAA Selection Sunday parlance whose claim to fame was being the first conference squad to nail coach Geno Auriemma’s group with a setback in several decades.

 

Though this time around the Wildcats fell just short twice of being able to top the Huskies, those are the only dents in an otherwise clean slate in the Big East since the conference-opening lopsided loss at home to Creighton (22-8) in December.

 

Several weeks later the Wildcats answered that affront with a blasting of the Bluejays in the Midwest on a night that senior Maddy Siegrist broke the Villanova combined men’s and women’s career scoring record that had been immortally attached to the name of Shelly Pennefather since the later 1980s.

 

Siegrist has been on a tear breaking many more since then, to the point that it took several minutes to announce them all in introducing her during the nation’s scoring leader’s senior night pre-game ceremonies.

 

In the third meeting with Creighton, a high-wire act separated most of the way by just a few scores as opposed to the two previous lopsided affairs, Siegrist carried her teammates all the way with 37 points, one short of the ‘Nova best-ever individual mark in the Big East women’s tourney, and then her 11^th and final rebound of the night off an attempted Creighton game-knotter from Lauren Jensen with 3.2 seconds remaining.

 

The Big East record, incidentally, had been shared by Nancy Bernhardt and Helen Koskinen, later to become Mrs. Harry Perretta, the longtime Villanova coach whose retirement three seasons ago allowed Dillon to leave her role as a long successful guiding light over Drexel in West Philadelphia to return to her alma mater.

 

“They just have Maddy,” Creighton coach Jim Flannery said with a smile, not needing to plead his team’s case, likely already made, for an NCAA at-large bid. “Not to discredit their other players, but sometimes, that’s enough. That was the difference today.”

 

Later, as he left the podium, Flannery quipped to the media, “you can tell her it’s ok to leave,” knowing besides being a potentially high WNBA draft pick as the nation’s leading scorer, Siegrist is holding an option off the NCAA COVID legislation to return for another season, as many have done.

 

Siegrist, whose national-leading total increased to 29.2 overnight, is not ready yet to make that decision but just focus on the mission ahead leading Villanova as deep as the ‘Cats will be able to go.

 

Perhaps Villanova’s ability to win the last two nights can be found way back at the beginning of the season when the Wildcats upset Princeton on the road the first week, knocking out and replacing the Tigers in the poll.

 

The Wildcats were thrown out because of the Creighton loss but returned several weeks later and have been rolling ever since.

 

“I think we knew coming into this tournament every game was going to be a battle,” Siegrist said of the last two games. “We practice late game situations all the time, just trying to stay calm and execute down the stretch. We’ve been able to do that these past two games.”

 

Near the end of the Sunday’s game several seconds earlier, unlike a foul shot from Lucy Olsen with less than a second left on Saturday night secured the quarterfinal win over DePaul, it appeared ‘Nova Nation could begin breathing earlier when the Wildcats were riding the momentum off a three-ball from Kaitlyn Orihel created a 54-47 seven-point advantage to keep the lead just out of the reach of Creighton thrusts as the game neared its conclusion.

 

But with 11 seconds left and a 63-59 lead after the Wildcats in a battle came up with a shot missed by the Bluejays, the officials determined Christina Dalce, who had been sensational supporting Siegrist’s effort, had committed an intentional foul.

 

Might the Wildcats now become the latest local squad in the last several days to suffer misfortune after Creighton’s Jensen made both shots to bring Creighton within a bucket?

 

Being awarded the ball as part of the penalty, the Bluejays got it in Jensen’s hands, she drove and put up the shot, but with Bella Runyan defending her, it missed, Siegrist cradled it, quickly called timeout, and the ball was advanced to the front court with 3.2 seconds left.

 

Creighton still had fouls to give so the several of those used up most of the remaining time defending three Villanova inbounds and the clock ran out on the attempted upset.

 

In addition to more Siegrist exploits, Dalce had nine points and 10 rebounds, while Jensen scored 22 for Creighton, Emma Ronsiek, who had foul trouble, scored 15, and Molly Mogensen scored 12.

 

In Connecticut’s win, now having more depth with injured players starting to recover, all five starters scored in double figures for the Huskies.

 

Aaliyah Edwards scored 20 points with 12 rebounds, Dorka Juhasz had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Lou Lopez Senechal had 14 points, while Aubrey Griffin had 11 points, as did Nika Muhl with 10 assists.

 

Liza Karlen has 18 points for Marquette (21-10).

 

“They looked like the March Connecticut team,” said Marquette coach Megan Duffy noting the state of the Huskies when her team beat them as to now with more players available.

 

“We definitely have a different edge to us when March comes, when the games really, really, really matter,” Muhl said. “I think our energy was great today, our defense was amazing and we’re just going to continue to keep that up, because now every game matters.” 

 

It’s the first time since 1986-87 in the Pennefather era that Villanova is appearing in consecutive Big East title game.

 

But more important, Sunday’s win likely made good the two previous 14^th and 15^th NCAA rankings, meaning on this Sunday night when the Wildcats see their name go up on the 68-team board on the ESPN telecast at 8 p.m. they will also learn that they will be the host team, with a chance to win the first two rounds and head to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the fabulous 2003 bunch made it to the Elite Eight playing Tennessee in Knoxville.

 

Villanova’s athletic administrator Lynn Tighe, who played for the Wildcats, is on the NCAA Committee.

 

Asked before the Creighton game whether one more win would do the trick without regard to what happens Monday night, she said, “I think so. I can’t be in the room or part of the process when Villanova is being discussed but from my time on the committee, one thing always asked after the previous reveal, what has each of these teams done, and you look at this weekend, we’re the only team that has not suffered a hiccup.

 

Indeed, seventh-seeded Washington State, not top-seeded Stanford or second-seeded Utah, ended up winning the PAC-12.

 

Virginia Tech, not top-seeded Notre Dame or second-seeded Duke ended up winning the ACC, while second-seeded LSU fell to Tennessee in the SEC tourney, won by the overall No. 1 seed and reigning NCAA champion South Carolina, which is now 32-0, the only unbeaten team.

 

Indiana, considered a No. 1 seed in the last reveal as was Stanford and Utah in the PAC-12, lost prior to the title round of the Big Ten to Ohio State.

 

In Sunday’s title game, the Buckeyes were wiped out by second-seeded and seventh-ranked Iowa, whose Caitlin Clark, in the national scoring race with Siegrist and Drexel’s Keishana Washington, had a triple-double, with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 17 assists. 

 

Also, not that any of the Atlantic 10 teams are in the mix, St. Louis at 17-17, ended up dethroning UMass in overtime.

 

The last time a piece of the NCAA women’s tournament was in the area was when bids could made for the first two rounds and Delaware in Elena Delle Donne’s senior year was awarded a site with the Blue Hens getting to the Sweet 16.

 

Prior to that, Temple was a host.

 

The Owls, incidentally, Monday afternoon in the 8-9 seed game will meet Wichita State in an opening round of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Dickey’s Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

 

The winner plays top-seed South Florida in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

 

And that’s the report.