With all of the changes Villanova women’s basketball has experienced over the past year, one of the best things to come out of the shuffle was the reunion of senior guard Kaitlyn Orihel and junior guard Ryanne Allen, former high school teammates and Pennsylvania state champions.

In May, Allen announced her decision to transfer to Villanova after playing her first two seasons at Vanderbilt.“It’s exciting,” Orihel said. “We had a lot of fun in high school, a lot of success. I was trying to get [Allen] here the first time she committed, but I’ll take what I can get.”

Despite all of the love and friendship the pair share now that they are reunited, things did not start off so smoothly when they first started playing together over six years ago, in high school.

“We used to hate each other,” Allen said. “But once I got to Archbishop we clicked. We were able to do different things together, play off each other. We just knew what each other were capable of, what each other wanted.”

During their time at Archbishop Wood High School, the pair cemented themselves as two of the top players across the state. As Orihel and Allen shared a competitive spirit while working toward sealing the state championship, their rivalry eventually turned into camaraderie.

“I think [Archbishop Wood] has such a special basketball tradition that you know going in you wanted to uphold that tradition,” Orihel said. “I think you buy into that tradition from the beginning. Like she said, we actually hated each other, but we ended up playing so well together, playing off each other and our other teammates too. All of us played so well, especially our last year. We had such a great group connection, we were all like best friends. I think that just helped us.”

Apart from winning the state championships during her senior year of high school, Orihel earned all the accolades from Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year, Pennsylvania 4A State Player of the Year, and Archbishop Wood girl’s all time leading scorer. 

Right behind Orihel’s ranking as second in scoring for the girl’s program is Allen. During her high school career, Allen earned awards from Miss Pennsylvania Basketball, and was named the Pennsylvania Sportswriters 4A State Player of the Year and Pennsylvania Basketball Coaches Association PA Player of the Year. She holds the school record for three pointers made in a season, with 83, and was named to the Nike Tournament of Champions All-Tournament Team. 

Now reunited after Allen decided to return home and join Orihel at Villanova, the two have seen how each other have changed since last playing as teenagers in high school. 

“Going into college is already a big adjustment,” Allen said. “Being a transfer here has definitely taught me a lot of things and I’ve grown in a lot of different aspects. I’ve seen [Orihel] grow so far as well just being able to be together to see where we’re at compared to being eighteen and in high school.”

“She plays defense now,” Orihel said. “But I think nothing has come as a crazy surprise. I’ve been following her since we stopped playing together. I watched her grow here the first two years so it was cool to be able to play together again at a higher level.”

In addition, the reconstruction of the basketball team has also brought together a multitude of former opponents, since half of Villanova’s roster is from Pennsylvania. Many of the players have competed in the same leagues for years. 

“I’ve played against [Denae Carter] since I was in fourth grade,” Orihel said. “I’ve known her for a while.”

“It’s funny because we played against [Maggie Grant] at Archbishop Carroll and [Annie Welde] when she was at Cardinal O’Hara,” Allen said. “And I played against [Denae Carter] when she was at St. Basil’s. I thought it was funny, just seeing all of these connections. We went to a Big Five event with all of the other teams. It was like a clinic. You could see all of the other teams, all of the other people that you played against growing up. [Bronaugh Power-Cassidy] and [Jasmine Bascoe] were like ‘why do you know all these people?’ You grow up against them and they’re all in the area so it’s cool to be around that.” 

Out of all of the Pennsylvania players on the team, Orihel and Allen seemed to always come out on top in high school. In 2021, Archbishop Wood defeated junior guard Maggie Grant and Archbishop Carroll in the Pennsylvania Catholic League (PCL) semifinals and then went on to beat junior forward Annie Welde and Cardinal O’Hara in the championships. 

“It’s a friendly rivalry with us,” Orihel said. “The PCL is so strong. I think anyone who is part of it understands it. I would take winning the PCL again over the state championship. I think it’s just a special moment for us. We’ll bicker back and forth all the time about it.” 

Besides players like Allen and junior forward Denae Carter who are coming back home to the area, the rest of the team is made up of transfers from all over the country as well as freshmen who are just starting their collegiate career. As a result, the team had to learn how to bond fast within the course of just a couple months. But this would prove not too difficult, especially during the team’s trip around Italy where they played three games and toured cities from Rome, Florence, Milan, and Venice.

“It was an amazing experience,” Allen said. “Being able to experience it with these people was really special. I think being one of the new people here, I had to adjust to a new group, a new culture, a new scheme, everything. I think Italy was just great to be around everyone. We got very close. We’re still very close.”

During one of her first games as a Wildcat in Italy, Allen scored 17 points in Villanova’s 91-56 win against Rīga Stradiņš University. 

“I think the first game was all of us adjusting to each other, playing together for the first time in a game setting,” Allen said. “By the third game, I think we all got really comfortable. I wasn’t in my head as much. I was just playing the way [head coach Denise Dillon] had taught us.”

Now heading into their first season reunited, Orihel and Allen are excited to show people just how much this Villanova team has improved and how much depth they have.

“I’m excited to play with the new girls,” Orihel said. “I think we have a lot of fun playing together, and it’s going to be different than last year. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to get to play with [Allen] again, finally. A lot of teams don’t know who we are yet, so I think that’ll be exciting to go into some of those games with a new identity.” 

In the Instagram announcement of her decision to transfer to Villanova in May, Allen used the phrase “Coming Home.”

“I’m just excited to be part of this team, to be at this school,” Allen said. “I’m excited for a new opportunity and just being able to play with the team. I think we’re going to take a lot of people by surprise.”