The BIG EAST Conference today announced the 2021-22 women’s basketball major award winners and All-Conference teams. Villanova had four individuals honored highlighted by junior Maddy Siegrist (Poughkeepsie, N.Y) being named the conference Player of the Year and head coach Denise Dillon garnering Coach of the Year distinction. Siegrist was also named first team All-BIG EAST for a third consecutive season.
In addition, sophomore Lior Garzon (Raanana, Israel) claimed the Co-Most Improved Player Award to go along with being named second team All-League and freshman Lucy Olsen (Royersford, Pa.) was tabbed as an All-Rookie selection.
Siegrist becomes the first Wildcat to earn conference player of the year accolades since Lisa Angelotti in 1987-88 and this marks the fifth time that a Villanova player was named BIG EAST Player of the Year. In addition to Angelotti, Shelly Pennefather garnered the award in three straight seasons from 1984-87.
In 22 games this year, Siegrist averaged a BIG EAST-best 26.5 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per contest, while shooting .500 from the field (214-of-428), including a 47-of-127 effort from three-point range (.370). The 9.7 rebounds per game average ranks second in the league stats. For just conference games, she set a new BIG EAST record for average points per game at 27.9. Siegrist finished the regular season with 18 games of 20 points or more, including nine 30+ efforts. She also registered 11 double-doubles. The nine 30-point efforts leads the conference.
Picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll, Dillon led Villanova to a 21-7 overall record and a 15-4 league mark which was good enough for a second place finish in the final league standings. This is the fifth time that Dillon has been named a conference coach of the year. During her Drexel career, she was a four-time CAA Coach of the Year. In her two years at the helm of the Villanova program, she has led the Wildcats to a 38-14 record. It also marks the seventh, 20-win season as a collegiate head coach for Dillon who had six, 20-win campaigns during her 17-year Drexel career.
Prior to this season, Villanova had the BIG EAST Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in the same season once before. During the 1985-86 campaign, Shelly Pennefather was the conference Player of the Year, while Harry Perretta was the league’s Coach of the Year.
