Villanova star Maddy Siegrist likely headed to WNBA draft

GREENVILLE, South Carolina — Villanova Wildcats women’s basketball star Maddy Siegrist said Friday she would speak with her parents about the decision to declare herself for the WNBA draft. But she seemed pretty certain her college career was over after the No. 4-seeded Wildcats’ 70-65 Sweet 16 loss to the No. 9-seeded Miami Hurricanes in the Greenville 2 Regional.

“You know, it was a good way out,” Siegrist said in Villanova’s locker room. “To do this tour with this team, it was really special.”

It was Villanova’s first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2003. Siegrist, Big East Player of the Year and an Associated Press first-team All-American, led Division I women’s and men’s basketball this season in average, finishing at 29.2 points per game. Her 1,081 points are the second most in an NCAA Division I women’s season, behind only Washington Huskies’ Kelsey Plum’s 1,109 in 2016-17. Plum is now with the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA.

Siegrist had 31 points and 13 rebounds on Friday, though she struggled on the court, going 8 of 29. She now scored a school-high 2,896 points.

Siegrist wore the red shirt for the 2018-19 season due to an ankle injury, but started at Villanova for the past four seasons. Among his highlights this season was breaking Shelly Pennefather’s program scoring record set in 1983-87 and scoring a career-high 50 points on Feb. 11 against Seton Hall. She also averaged 9.2 rebounds and totaled 1,102 in her career.

The 6-foot-2 forward is projected as a top-five pick in the latest WNBA mock draft by ESPN.

“I couldn’t be happier playing with this band,” said Siegrist. “I came to Villanova and I just wanted to be good enough to play here. A lot of things that happened, I never thought could have happened.

“Trying to put things into perspective now is difficult, but I’m really proud of how far I’ve come and I’m proud of my career.”