Villanova uses a scoring committee to cruise pass Seton Hall, 69-41

The last time the Wildcats hosted Seton Hall just under a year ago, Maddy Siegrist scored 50 points to surpass Shelly Pennefather as the program record-holder for the most points in a single game.

On Saturday, Villanova took the scoring-by-committee approach to run over the Pirates, 69-41. Four Wildcats scored in double figures, with Lucy Olsen leading the way with 21 points and dishing 10 assists.

Siegrist, now a forward with the Dallas Wings, was on hand to watch her old team’s triumph, and was honored at the half along with other former Wildcats as part of Villanova’s (14-8, 7-4 Big East) Alumni Day celebration.

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Villanova got off to one of its best starts of the season, connecting on 61.1% of its shots in the first quarter. Olsen scored 15 of her points in the first frame to help build an 11-point lead over Seton Hall (13-9, 5-6).

The Pirates’ defense looked lethargic early on. Though they seemed to wake up in the second quarter, holding Villanova to 4 of 11 from the field to pull within five, the third quarter was again all Villanova.

The Wildcats sparked a 10-0 run out of halftime to regain momentum and put the game out of reach. Senior guard Bella Runyan (11 points) had five of those points in the third.

Junior guard Zanai Jones’ 10 points marked her fourth straight game with double-digit scoring.

Siegrist broke several of Pennefather’s records before closing out her Wildcat career. On Saturday, one more domino toppled with Siegrist watching, as junior forward Christina Dalce passed Pennefather on the list of shot blocking leaders.

After blocking three of the Pirates’ shots, Dalce totaled 137-career blocks to become the third overall Wildcat in program history in blocks.

Dalce, who came off the bench in Saturday’s win, also had 10 points and nine rebounds.

While the Wildcats were doing pretty much whatever they wanted at the offensive end, Seton Hall couldn’t generate anything to keep up.

Seton Hall has been shooting 31.1% from three this season, which puts them in the middle of the pack in the Big East — slightly higher, in fact, than Villanova (30.3%). That statistic took a big hit on Saturday, after Villanova held the Pirates to a collective 0-for-13 from three-point range.

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Seton Hall was 0-for-3 in the first half. The Pirates started raining down shot attempts after the break as the hole they were in became a chasm, but nothing connected, and they missed several open looks as the slump extended on. The Wildcats twisted the knife with 26 defensive rebounds.

The Wildcats visit Marquette (17-5, 6-5) next Saturday (3 p.m., FloHoops). In their last meeting, Villanova inched past the then-ranked No. 22 Golden Eagles, 66-63.