No. 25 Villanova drops Big East opener against No. 13 Creighton as Maddy Siegrist continues her climb toward history

Villanova fans were out in full force Friday night for a top-25 matchup with No. 13 Creighton, but the No. 25 Wildcats lost, 67-46, despite the energy.

“It’s a tough home opener, and Big East opener, against a very good, very disciplined team,” Villanova head coach Denise Dillon said. “We knew what they were capable of coming in, and they showed that.”

Villanova (6-2, 0-1 Big East) was paced by senior Maddy Siegrist, who finished with 25 points and eight rebounds. With two seconds to play in the first quarter, Siegrist pulled up at the foul line and drilled a jumper, officially passing Nancy Bernhardt for second on Villanova’s all-time scoring list. Siegrist has 2,032 points and trails only Shelly Pennefather (2,408, 1983-87).

“I’ll probably reflect on that later, [it] doesn’t really mean anything right now,” Siegrist said of the moment after the game. “But it’s always an honor”

Sophomore Christina Dalce chipped in nine points and nine rebounds.

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Creighton (7-0, 2-0) had three players in double figures led by Molly Mogensen, who finished with 22 points, including 5-of-6 from distance. The other two Bluejays in double digits were Morgan Maly (16) and Emma Ronsiek (14).

The Wildcats, led by Siegrist, came out strong in the first quarter and ended it on a 15-1 run to take a 19-9 lead into the second quarter.

“We came out and we were solid, [playing] efficiently in our offense, and we were doing a decent job defensively,” Dillon said. “That flipped a little bit in the second quarter. They stayed on point with what they do, and we faltered a bit with missing shots and defense.”

Creighton outscored the Wildcats, 17-8, in the second quarter to cut its halftime deficit to 27-26.

The second half was all Creighton, as the Bluejays shot 65.2% from the field, including 66.7% from three-point range, while the WIldcats shot 25% and missed all 10 second-half three-point attempts.

Another key disparity was the scoring distribution. Dalce and Siegrist were the only Wildcats who hit multiple field goals.

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Trailing by 10 to start the second quarter, Mogensen drilled two triples to cut the Villanova lead to four and give the Bluejays momentum that they carried for the rest of the game.

Villanova will travel to Providence (6-3, 0-1) on Sunday (1 p.m., FloSports) for its second Big East matchup.