It’s no secret that the success of the 2022-23 Villanova women’s team was due to all-America, and now WNBA player Maddy Siegrist. With Siegrist’s collegiate career coming to an end, it leaves one burning question: what will the Wildcats’ do now?
As for the answer, that part’s simple: win as a team. There are several key factors to do so.
“Trust,” junior forward Christina Dalce said. “Definitely trust on the floor is big.”
With Siegrist gone, rather than focusing on what the team has lost, head coach Denise Dillon and her Wildcats are focusing on what’s next.
“It just means a lot of opportunity for our players returning,” Dillon said. “They have to increase their responsibility out on the floor, but they’ve been embracing it. It’s just gonna have to be a collective effort.”
And to maintain this collective effort, Dillon is looking for leadership.
This season there are three captains to fill that leadership role, including senior guard Bella Runyan, who will return as a captain.
“Bella Runyan is someone who just leads by great example,” Dillon said. “You see her now recognize the importance of using her voice…she is the most experienced here as a senior so [we] rely on her to have confidence in her ability, but also in the understanding of what Villanova basketball is about.”
Along with Runyan are senior guard Maddie Burke and junior guard Lucy Olsen, both first-year captains.
“Maddie just has a great connection with all of her teammates,” Dillon said. “They can rely on her in so many areas, on and off the floor. She brings that mentality, that attitude, but at the same time is competitive when it comes down to the game of basketball.”
As for Olsen, eyes are on her to bring more than just leadership to the team this season.
In the 2022-23 season Olsen started all 37 games, averaging 12.4 points and 4.1 rebounds. She led the team with 163 assists and 50 steals, while registering 23 double-figure scoring games, including three 20-point games. For her efforts, Olsen was named second team All-Big East, first team All-Big 5, and earned a spot on the USA Basketball 2023 women’s 3×3 U21 team.
“Lucy is a type of player that wants more,” Dillon said. “[…] She’s stepping into a new role…that first option.”
But to step into that new role, it takes someone with a competitive drive. And Olsen provides just that.
“I hate to lose,” Olsen said. “So whatever it takes for me to help our team get the win, whether it’s points, rebounds, assistant, crazy defense, I’m willing to do whatever is needed for that game to win.”
Yet despite Olsen being fit to slate into the first option position, both Olsen and Dillon are less focused on Olsen’s ability to compete with Siegrist’s legacy and success as the former first option, and instead, are more focused on what just Olsen can bring to the floor.
“We explain to Lucy that she’s Lucy Olsen, so be Lucy Olsen,” Dillon said. “She offers a different game than Maddy did [so] the results will take care of themselves as long as she continues to let the game come to her.”
Rather than looking at her individual stat sheet, Olsen is looking at the opportunities that lay ahead for the whole team.
“I don’t think there’s going to be another Maddy,” Olsen said. “None of us are going to try to come in and score 40 points a game. I think it’s more of an opportunity for other people to step up instead of a pressure to step up.”
Another player to watch in addition to Olsen is Dalce, who now assumes a more integral role on the team.
“I would definitely say it’s a lot [of pressure],” Dalce said. “It’s a lot of pushback.”
Last season, Dalce started all 37 games, averaging 7.3 points and 7.9 rebounds, recording 10 double-figure scoring games. Dalce also set a Villanova school record for blocked shots in a season with 86. For her efforts, she was named Philadelphia’s Big 5 Most Improved Player, and also earned a spot on the USA Basketball 2023 women’s 3×3 U21 team.
But similar to Olsen, Dalce isn’t focused on the individual pressure that she feels with Siegrist gone.
“I think that this year is more of a team effort,” Dalce said. “It’s not just a focus on one specific player or two specific people, but more so an overall team effort where everyone is doing their role.
And for the Wildcats, those roles are just as important off the court as they are on.
“The dynamic is great,” Dalce said. “We have movie nights, little photoshoots together, or even just bonding time in someone’s room when we chat and just watch the Eagles or Phillies play.”
This dynamic is something the team has put an even greater emphasis on this season to ensure that it translates onto the court as well.
“Because we have that comfortability off the court, it really elevates us on the court,” Dalce said. “Over the years it’s gotten better, but [this year] it’s great stuff.”
However, regardless of the team camaraderie, or the optimism to win games as a collective unit in the 2023-24 campaign, it’s impossible to reflect back on the Wildcats’ success last season without acknowledging how critical of a role Siegrist played.
“Maddy did exactly what she was capable of doing at an incredible pace,” Dillon said. “Her consistency was off the charts and I recognized it and enjoyed every minute of coaching her.”
But now, the Wildcats are faced with a new group — a group without their former star.
“Here’s our challenge,” Dillon said. “This team needs to provide what they’re capable of, and you know, stepping on the floor. Anytime you step on the floor, you gotta prove yourself. So we’re rolling with that mentality.”
After coming off a 30-7 season, a trip to the Big East championship, and a ticket to the Sweet 16, the Wildcats are optimistic that they can reach similar feats to the success of the 2022-23 roster.
“I think because we did feel like we had such a successful season, we’re hungry for it again,” Olsen said. “We’re not content. We want more.”
