After her career milestone, Villanova’s Lucy Olsen has her sights set on team goals — and impacting the next generation

Some athletes spend their entire careers trying to reach milestones — a certain amount of rushing yards on the field, laps on a track, points on the court.

But it took Villanova point guard Lucy Olsen just 2½ years to reach 1,000 career points.

So how did the junior do it?

Her dedication on the court is clear, and her work ethic in practice is highly talked about, but the answer is even more simple than that.

For Olsen, basketball is just good old-fashioned fun.

“When you play it, you’re supposed to find your joy,” Olsen said.

» READ MORE: ‘This is so fun’: Lucy Olsen’s joy permeates Villanova program (from 2023)

When Olsen first described basketball as “fun” to the media, her teammates joked with her: “Really, Lucy, that’s all you said in the interview?” But now, the line has become much more than that to her.

“It simplified the game,” Olsen said. “We play because it’s supposed to be fun, and I don’t want younger girls to ever forget that.”

Olsen scored her 1,000th career point with 3 minutes, 36 seconds left in the Wildcats’ 86-45 win over Xavier on Dec. 30. And for Olsen, it was even more important to reach this milestone in the Finneran Pavilion.

“We have such an awesome fan section, and the fact that we had so many people at that game on a Saturday during [winter] break, it was such a cool experience,” Olsen said. “And I love seeing the little girls after the games and signing jerseys. It puts everything into perspective of why I play the game. I just want to inspire the next generation of girls.”

But while basketball may still be fun for Olsen, she does put in her time as a Division I athlete.

“Nobody works harder than Lucy,” Villanova coach Denise Dillon said. “She’s aware that if you work hard, you get results, and with results you get recognized. She understands the order of all that.”

Olsen now has four 30-point games this season and is seventh in the nation in scoring at 23 points per game. She’s the 31st player in Villanova history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

“It’s huge that Lucy [is so consistent] for us,” Dillon said. “It gives confidence to the team.”

With Maddy Siegrist leaving for the WNBA, the Wildcats (9-5) have struggled at times this season, especially when it comes to putting points on the board — they’re scoring 67 points per game, while last season’s squad went 30-7 and averaged 70.8 points. With Siegrist gone, Olsen has become the go-to scorer.

“[She’s] stepping into a new role each year,” Dillon said. “Her game has developed and progressed to another level, and here she is in her junior campaign [scoring 1,000 points], and she’s still wanting more.”

While the accolades are rewarding, Olsen is far less focused on milestones, and much more focused on what’s to come.

“I mean it’s cool how early I got it, but, honestly, I just want to win a Big East championship,” she said.

Last season, Villanova lost to UConn, 67-56, in the Big East championship game. Olsen had 14 points, five assists, and six rebounds.

Now, three games into Big East play this season, the Wildcats sit fourth in the standings at 2-1. They’ll be back on the court Wednesday in a key early clash against third-place Georgetown (12-2, 2-1). And Olsen will be there, leading the way.