Sweet 16: Villanova's Maddy Siegrist leaving her mark through record books and leadership

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Christina Dalce was used to filling out a bracket each March, penciling in teams she thought would advance, but having no input on what teams actually would.

A year ago as a freshman at Villanova, suddenly she had a say in how at least one team fared. As the then-No. 11 seeded Wildcats began their first NCAA women’s basketball tournament since 2018, Maddy Siegrist turned to Dalce and the full freshman class with a message.

You’re ready. You’ve got this. You know what you’re doing, Siegrist said.

“It was a big deal,” Dalce told Yahoo Sports on the eve of her second NCAA tournament. “And it meant a lot coming from her, given how much she trusts us as an upperclassman, at that time with a lot of experience. But it meant a lot and it went a long way, too, even to this day.”

Villanova pulled off the first-round upset, then bowed out in a tight loss to Michigan. They’re far from a Cinderella now. The Wildcats earned a No. 4 seed, hosted the first two rounds, and are favorites against No. 9 Miami, which knocked No. 1 Indiana out of the bracket. The Sweet 16 matchup tips off at 2:30 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN from Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

It’s the Wildcats’ first regional semifinal since 2003, when they reached the Elite Eight. And it all runs through Siegrist, a finalist for National Player of the Year awards leading Division I with 29.2 points per game and adding 9.1 rebounds a game. The senior scored 1,050 points so far this season and is 59 off of the single-season scoring record set by Washington’s Kelsey Plum in 2017. They’re two of only five 1,000-point single-season scorers in NCAA history.

The 6-foot-1 forward ranks sixth in usage rate (37.6%), but still maintains a turnover rate ranking top five (5.3%). Her Hoop Stats has her first in offensive rating metrics and she has yet to score fewer than 21 points this season. Her best is 50 points against Seton Hall.

After her first tournament experience, she walked into head coach Denise Dillon’s office and told her, “We’re going to be better than we were last year.” Dillon said she knew a lot of work would have to go into making that reality. Siegrist backed it up, and not simply in her improved play.

“I think her greatest mark on this program has been her leadership and conviction to her team and convincing them, like, we’re capable of being successful,” Dillon said.

Dalce, a 6-2 forward, moved into a starter role after sophomore Lior Garzon transferred to Oklahoma State. As a freshman, she averaged 5.5 minutes in 13 games and felt nervous about the “overwhelming” task of moving up the bench. Now she averages 23.6 minutes with 7.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and a team-best 2.3 blocks. She said she’s done a “complete 180” with a lot of credit to Siegrist in building her comfort.

“Her instilling that confidence and encouragement in them has taken their games to another level, which has certainly helped us,” Dillon said.

Villanova is averaging 7 more points, a growth from the 60th percentile in D-I to 96th. Their defense made a similar jump. Sophomore point guard Lucy Olsen’s production is up around the board, averaging 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.5 assist per game. She’s hitting 3s at a 36.1% clip. Senior guard Brooke Mullin is playing slightly fewer minutes, but dishing out a full assist more than last year. Junior transfer guard Maddie Burke, who came off the bench for Penn State after starting half of their games as a freshman, is hitting a career-high 37.1% of her 3s.

“When we came in in the summertime in June, everyone was really locked in. Everyone wanted to go back,” Siegrist said on Thursday. “I know individually, like you want to do better than — you want to be better than you were the year before, and I think this group did that right from the start. It’s tough in June to see where you’re going to be in March, but I think we really bought into everything Coach was having us do, and that’s ultimately why we ended up here.”

Dillon said she realized her team would be good because of what Siegrist “was willing to do and her teammates following suit.”

“They all just came in, on board, ready to battle,” Dillon said.

Mullin, Burke and sophomore guard Kaitlyn Orihel, a key bench contributor, told Yahoo Sports it’s easy to follow their star’s lead.

“A lot of what you see on the court is who she is as a person,” said Mullin, her roommate and best friend on the team.

They described her as selfless, down-to-earth, a person who truly cares about how people in her orbit are doing and never talks about herself or any of her accomplishments, which are aplenty. When Dalce had mono over the winter, Siegrist checked in and offered to buy her sushi, her favorite meal. Dillon, in her third season after taking over for Villanova’s only former head coach Harry Perretta, described her star as genuine, natural, and someone who can hold a conversation with a person of any walk of life, 8 to 80.

Most importantly, Siegrist is driven, they said. She has a very regimented schedule she sticks to and as efficient as she is on the court, she is off of it. Burke said they’ll go to the library together and she’ll expect to stay a few hours to finish a project. Siegrist, the Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year, will be done in 20 minutes.

“She’s just a great person,” Burke said. “It’s my first year here and just witnessing it is just crazy. She’s a really good person to be around. Having a leader that’s so connected to the team, and also so driven, and does her own thing, too, is really special.”

Dalce, who said she’s tough on herself, feels that connection often during pregame warmups. Siegrist will approach her, often when she’s nervous, and tell her “corny” and funny things about her opponents to hype her up.

“You know what the girl on the other team says? She says you don’t have a beautiful soul,” Dalce said, quoting Siegrist. “Or, she’s like, ‘She wants you. She wants you to come at her.’ And I’m like, yeah … yeah! I’m going to do that.”

Siegrist raked in awards this month, including Associated Press and USBWA first-team All-American status — the first Villanova player to do so — and a second consecutive Big East Player of the Year honor. She was named one of four finalists for the Naismith award with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston and Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley. Clark, Boston, Siegrist and Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes are the finalists for the Wade Trophy.

None of them will win her team a national championship alone. They won’t put their team into the Final Four alone, either. Siegrist knew that when she pumped up her freshmen last March, and when she told Dillon this year they’d be better. It’s her leadership and conviction, as well as her scoring touch, that has them in Greenville.

“She’s made these past two years indescribable. Indescribably amazing, definitely during my hardest times,” Dalce said. “Not enough words can describe how thankful I am for her and what she’s done for me.”

Villanova and its program, for which Siegrist has set the standard, surely feel the same way.