# 2023–24 Villanova Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Villanova Wildcats women's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by 4th-year head coach Denise Dillon, played their home games at the Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania and were members of the Big East Conference.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2022–23 season at 30–7 and 17–3 in Big East play, to finish in second place. They advanced to the championship game of the Big East women's tournament where they lost to UConn. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA women's tournament as a 4th seed in Greensboro region 2 where they defeated Cleveland State in the first round and Florida Gulf Coast to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2003 where they lost to Miami to end their season.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason left |
| Anahi-Lee Cauley | 5 | G | 6' 0" | Sophomore | Windsor, CT | Transferred to William & Mary |
| Brooke Mullin | 15 | G | 5' 11" | Senior | Langhorne, PA | Graduate transferred to Drexel |
| Maddy Siegrist | 20 | F | 6' 1" | Senior | Poughkeepsie, NY | Graduated/2023 WNBA draft; selected 3rd overall by Dallas Wings |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Denae Carter | 25 | F | 6' 0" | Junior | Philadelphia, PA | Mississippi State |

#### Recruiting

There was no recruiting class of 2023.

#### Recruiting class of 2024

College recruiting information (2024) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Jasmine Bascoe PG | Milton, ON | King's Christian Collegiate | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 91 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2023. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2023* 7:00 p.m. | | Jefferson | W 69–42 | | – | – | – | Finneran Pavilion Villanova, PA |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 10, 2023* 9:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Portland | W 64–42 | 1–0 | 20 – Olsen | 8 – Dalce | 5 – Olsen | Chiles Center (733) Portland, OR |
| November 12, 2023* 4:00 p.m., P12N | | at Oregon State | L 56–63 | 1–1 | 24 – Olsen | 9 – Runyan | 4 – Runyan | Gill Coliseum (3,775) Corvallis, OR |
| November 19, 2023* 2:00 p.m., FloSports | | Temple | W 90–62 | 2–1 | 40 – Olsen | 18 – Dalce | 4 – Runyan | Finneran Pavilion (2,185) Villanova, PA |
| November 21, 2023* 7:00 p.m., FloSports | | Holy Cross | W 63–53 | 3–1 | 14 – Olsen | 13 – Runyan | 4 – Runyan | Finneran Pavilion (1,345) Villanova, PA |
| November 26, 2023* 12:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Wake Forest | W 74–65 | 4–1 | 21 – Olsen | 12 – Dalce | 5 – tied | LJVM Coliseum (760) Winston-Salem, NC |
| November 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m., FloSports | | Richmond | W 67–57 | 5–1 | 30 – Olsen | 15 – Dalce | 5 – Runyan | Finneran Pavilion (2,241) Villanova, PA |
| December 3, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Columbia | L 75–77 | 5–2 | 33 – Olsen | 13 – Dalce | 8 – Runyan | Levien Gymnasium (1,024) New York, NY |
| December 5, 2023* 7:00 p.m., FloSports | | Penn | W 68–62 | 6–2 | 18 – Dalce | 17 – Dalce | 3 – Olsen | Finneran Pavilion (1,141) Villanova, PA |
| December 9, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Joseph's Holy War | L 67–73 | 6–3 | 32 – Olsen | 11 – Dalce | 2 – tied | Hagan Arena (863) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 11, 2023* 7:00 p.m., FloSports | | Princeton | L 58–61 | 6–4 | 21 – Olsen | 12 – Dalce | 4 – Olsen | Finneran Pavilion (1,119) Villanova, PA |
| December 16, 2023 6:00 p.m., BEDN | | at St. John's | L 46–51 | 6–5 (0–1) | 16 – Runyan | 5 – Olsen | 6 – McCurry | Madison Square Garden (12,720) New York, NY |
| December 21, 2023* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at La Salle | W 74–60 | 7–5 | 23 – Olsen | 11 – Dalce | 7 – Runyan | Tom Gola Arena (612) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 30, 2023 2:00 p.m., BEDN | | Xavier | W 86–45 | 8–5 (1–1) | 31 – Olsen | 9 – Olsen | 4 – tied | Finneran Pavilion (2,341) Villanova, PA |
| January 3, 2024 7:00 p.m., BEDN | | at Seton Hall | W 50–45 | 9–5 (2–1) | 13 – Orihel | 12 – Dalce | 5 – Olsen | Walsh Gymnasium (845) South Orange, NJ |
| January 10, 2024 11:30 a.m., BEDN | | Georgetown | W 53–51 $^{OT}$ | 10–5 (3–1) | 28 – Olsen | 9 – Olsen | 2 – tied | Finneran Pavilion (1,059) Villanova, PA |
| January 13, 2024 7:30 p.m., BEDN | | at Butler | W 65–54 | 11–5 (4–1) | 18 – Webber | 13 – Dalce | 6 – Olsen | Hinkle Fieldhouse (777) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 17, 2024 7:00 p.m., BEDN | | No. 22 Marquette | W 66–63 | 12–5 (5–1) | 37 – Olsen | 14 – Dalce | 5 – Olsen | Finneran Pavilion (1,643) Villanova, PA |
| January 21, 2024 12:00 p.m., CBSSN | | No. 21 Creighton | L 49–63 | 12–6 (5–2) | 29 – Olsen | 9 – Dalce | 3 – Olsen | Finneran Pavilion (2,651) Villanova, PA |
| January 24, 2024 7:00 p.m., BEDN | | at Providence | L 76–82 $^{OT}$ | 12–7 (5–3) | 20 – Webber | 14 – Dalce | 5 – tied | Alumni Hall (827) Providence, RI |
| January 28, 2024 2:00 p.m., FS1 | | at DePaul | W 95–64 | 13–7 (6–3) | 24 – Olsen | 6 – tied | 9 – Olsen | Wintrust Arena (1,555) Chicago, IL |
| January 31, 2024 6:30 p.m., SNY | | No. 11 UConn | L 60–81 | 13–8 (6–4) | 15 – Olsen | 4 – tied | 4 – tied | Finneran Pavilion (4,109) Villanova, PA |
| February 3, 2024 2:00 p.m., BEDN | | Seton Hall | W 69–41 | 14–8 (7–4) | 21 – Olsen | 9 – Dalce | 10 – Olsen | Finneran Pavilion (2,881) Villanova, PA |
| February 10, 2024 3:00 p.m., FOX | | at Marquette | W 55–52 | 15–8 (8–4) | 19 – Olsen | 10 – Dalce | 3 – Olsen | Al McGuire Center (1,639) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 13, 2024 11:00 a.m., BEDN | | at Georgetown | W 62–47 | 16–8 (9–4) | 33 – Olsen | 8 – Olsen | 3 – tied | McDonough Gymnasium (632) Washington, D.C. |
| February 17, 2024 4:00 p.m., BEDN | | Butler | L 52–55 | 16–9 (9–5) | 21 – Olsen | 14 – Dalce | 6 – Runyan | Finneran Pavilion (3,059) Villanova, PA |
| February 21, 2024 7:00 p.m., BEDN | | Providence | W 68–58 | 17–9 (10–5) | 30 – Olsen | 8 – Dalce | 7 – Runyan | Finneran Pavilion (1,109) Villanova, PA |
| February 24, 2024 4:00 p.m., FOX | | at No. 21 Creighton | L 69–79 | 17–10 (10–6) | 26 – Olsen | 13 – Dalce | 5 – Olsen | D. J. Sokol Arena (2,188) Omaha, NE |
| February 28, 2024 7:00 p.m., SNY | | at No. 10 UConn | L 46–67 | 17–11 (10–7) | 15 – Orihel | 6 – Olsen | 3 – tied | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,299) Storrs, CT |
| March 3, 2024 5:00 p.m., FS1 | | DePaul | W 68–66 | 18–11 (11–7) | 31 – Olsen | 10 – Olsen | 5 – Runyan | Finneran Pavilion (2,619) Villanova, PA |
| Big East women's tournament |||||||||
| March 9, 2024 2:30 p.m., FS2 | (4) | vs. (5) Marquette Quarterfinals | L 48–50 | 18–12 | 22 – Olsen | 11 – Dalce | 2 – tied | Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT |
| WBIT |||||||||
| March 21, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) | VCU First round | W 75–60 | 19–12 | 29 – Olsen | 6 – Burke | 7 – Runyan | Finneran Pavilion (851) Villanova, PA |
| March 24, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) | (4) Virginia Second round | W 73–55 | 20–12 | 30 – Olsen | 15 – Dalce | 6 – Runyan | Finneran Pavilion (1,315) Villanova, PA |
| March 28, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) | (3) Saint Joseph's Quarterfinals/Holy War | W 67–59 | 21–12 | 16 – tied | 10 – Dalce | 6 – McCurry | Finneran Pavilion (2,415) Villanova, PA |
| April 1, 2024* 2:30 p.m., ESPNU | (1) | vs. (1) Penn State Semifinals | W 58–53 | 22–12 | 21 – Olsen | 7 – Dalce | 6 – Olsen | Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,748) Indianapolis, IN |
| April 3, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (4) Illinois Finals | L 57–71 | 22–13 | 22 – Olsen | 6 – Olsen | 5 – Olsen | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. |||||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV* | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | RV | RV* | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
*The pre-season and week 1 polls were the same.