Lucy Olsen draws the attention, but Villanova is starting to show opponents ‘they’re all threats’

Lucy Olsen got a taste Tuesday of what the rest of the season might look like.

It’s not that she wasn’t expecting it. When you go into a game having scored 30-plus points in two straight contests and are the nation’s third-leading scorer, Penn’s plan for Olsen doesn’t come out of left field.

The Quakers wanted to deny Villanova’s best player the ball in the spots she wants the ball. They wanted to make the junior guard work during every offensive possession.

“I guess it worked because my shooting was horrendous,” Olsen said with a laugh.

She could laugh freely, of course, because Villanova won, 68-62, to improve to 3-0 in Big 5 play, and the Spring-Ford grad still scored 14 points, including a key three-pointer that helped put Penn away.

But Olsen hadn’t yet experienced a night like Tuesday during what has been a dream start for her in the post-Maddy Siegrist era at Villanova. She missed all six of her first-half shots and finished 4-for-18 from the field while committing four turnovers, matching a season high.

“It’s just the way it goes,” said Olsen, who at 24.5 points per game was the nation’s fourth-leading scorer entering Wednesday. “I’m not going to shoot well every night, so I have to be able to adjust.”

Adjust is what Villanova coach Denise Dillon wanted Olsen to do at halftime. Dillon thought Olsen was pushing the pace too much and not letting the game come to her. She also told Olsen, who entered the game scoring 26 points per game, that she needed to be comfortable not scoring.

That didn’t stop Villanova from drawing up its first play for Olsen out of halftime. She broke her 0-for quickly in the third quarter when she got the ball in a good spot at the elbow. She quickly made a decision to shoot and nailed a pull-up jumper to push a seven-point lead to nine. It wasn’t a sign of things to come, as Olsen made just three of her last 11 shots after that. But despite Penn trying to limit Olsen’s scoring, she did make a critical three-pointer to give the Wildcats a seven-point lead with 2 minutes, 27 seconds to go.

» READ MORE: From preseason: Lucy Olsen embraces the ‘opportunity’ to follow Maddy Siegrist as Villanova’s leader

Last season, when Villanova made its NCAA Tournament run, all eyes were on Siegrist, the record-setting scorer who is now in the WNBA. Olsen, who started all 37 games as a sophomore and averaged 12.4 points, is now learning what it’s like to be the main focus of a defensive game plan. She knew the Wildcats would need more scoring from her this season. Olsen scored 40 during a blowout win over Temple in their third game.

“It’s definitely different,” she said. “All eyes were on Maddy last year. This year it’s a little tougher because it’s harder to get the ball in the spots I want. Teams are doing a good job of playing me tough. I just have to trust my team, which I do because they’re all threats.”

There was plenty to like in that regard Tuesday night, even for a team that’s still dealing with some injuries. Junior forward Christina Dalce scored a career-high 18 points and was one off her career-high with 17 rebounds. Freshman guard Maddie Webber returned from an injury to score 16 points in 22 minutes. And junior guard Zanai Jones matched a season-high with eight points on an efficient 3-for-7 shooting night with zero turnovers.

“There’s going to be games we play, especially when conference play comes, they’re going to be face-guarding [Olsen] very similar to what happened today,” Dalce said.

“I think it’s really good that we’re moving in this step for future games that we know we have that confidence to score and not be afraid to.”

Olsen, for the record, certainly wasn’t blowing one bad shooting game out of proportion.

“You’re going to have games like this,” she said. “During the game I’m going to just try to do the little things. I can’t stop playing defense. I’ll try to rebound. Assists, get my teammates open. I still have to be aggressive.”

In the aftermath, Olsen said she’d come back Wednesday and watch some film and hit the gym, “get some frustration out,” as she put it.

“It’s all good frustration,” she said.

» READ MORE: Which Big 5 team are you? From North Broad to the Main Line, find your perfect match.

The timing wasn’t terrible for Villanova. The Wildcats have a big one Saturday against currently undefeated St. Joseph’s before playing Princeton on Monday. After that, conference play begins. It was a good time to have a reminder that it doesn’t have to always be Olsen.

Dillon said Tuesday provided a “realization.”

“We do this one-on-five stuff, we’re not growing, and we’re not getting better and we’re not winning consistently,” she said.

“What the biggest steps will be is, one, recognizing it, and two, bringing that into the next game, realizing that we’re at our best when everyone has to be honored and guarded.”

That lesson seemed to be learned Tuesday.

“I wish that were the case every night,” Dillon said. “Do what you’re capable of doing, and Lucy will continue to lead the way.”

Olsen, Dillon said, is a “coach’s dream,” and is handling her new lead role “beautifully.”

“Obviously, Maddy was a great example for her to see how you handle that responsibility,” Dillon said. “Lucy just has this sense to her that she doesn’t get too high. She really never gets low. She just has this demeanor of she’s going to keep going.”