2025–26 Villanova Wildcats women's basketball team

2025–26 Villanova Wildcats women's basketball
2025–26 Villanova Wildcats women's basketball
Big 5 Classic champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	25–8 (16–4 Big East)
Head coach	Denise Dillon (6th season);
Associate head coach	Joe Mullaney
Assistant coaches	Michelle Sword; Tiara Malcom; Jess Genco;
Home arena	Finneran Pavilion

2025–26 Big East women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 UConn †	20	–	0	1.000	36	–	0	1.000
Villanova	16	–	4	.800	25	–	8	.758
Seton Hall	12	–	8	.600	19	–	13	.594
Marquette	12	–	8	.600	18	–	12	.600
Creighton	11	–	9	.550	16	–	15	.516
St. John's	11	–	9	.550	22	–	12	.647
Providence	7	–	13	.350	15	–	18	.455
Butler	6	–	14	.300	12	–	19	.387
Georgetown	6	–	14	.300	14	–	17	.452
DePaul	5	–	15	.250	8	–	24	.250
Xavier	4	–	16	.200	11	–	19	.367

† 2026 Big East tournament winner As of March 23, 2026 Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 Villanova Wildcats women's basketball team currently represents Villanova University in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by sixth-year head coach Denise Dillon, play their home games at the Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania and are members of the Big East Conference.

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2024–25 season 21–15 and 11–7 in Big East play to clinch the No. 5 seed in the Big East tournament. They beat No. 4 Marquette in the quarterfinals before losing to No. 1 UConn in the semifinals.

They once again received an at-large bid to the WBIT, defeating Boston College and Saint Joseph's in the first and second rounds as well as Portland in the quarterfinals, before falling to eventual runners-up Belmont in the semifinals.

Offseason

Departures

Villanova Departures
Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Kaitlyn Orihel	4	G	5'10"	Senior	Newtown, PA	Graduated
Bronagh Power-Cassidy	7	G	5'10"	Graduate Student	Dublin, Ireland	Graduated
Jaliyah Green	8	G	5'10"	Senior	St. Louis, MO	Graduated
Lara Edmanson	14	G/F	6'0"	Graduate Student	Melbourne, Australia	Graduated
Maddie Burke	23	G	6'0"	Graduate Student	Doylestown, PA	Graduated
Maddie Webber	34	G	5'11"	Junior	Sparta, NJ	Transferred to Illinois

Incoming transfers

Villanova Incoming Transfers
Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Kylee Watson	4	F	6'4"	Graduate Student	Linwood, NJ	Notre Dame
Kelsey Joens	23	G	5'10"	Junior	Iowa City, Iowa	Iowa State

Recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight
Kennedy Henry G	Blairstown, NJ	Blair Academy	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A
Kennedy Henry G	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (92)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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: "2025 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 14, 2025.

Roster

2025–26 Villanova Wildcats women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	3	MD Ntambue	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	Crestwood	Montreal, Quebec
F	4	Kylee Watson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	GS	Mainland Notre Dame	Linwood, NJ
G	5	Ryanne Allen	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Sr	Archbishop Wood Vanderbilt	Warminster, PA
G	11	Jasmine Bascoe	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	So	King's Christian	Milton, Ontario
G	12	Elise Bender	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Anthony Wayne	Whitehouse, OH
F	13	Brynn McCurry	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Jr	Sparta	Sparta, NJ
G	14	Brooke Bender	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Anthony Wayne	Whitehouse, OH
G	22	Kennedy Henry	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Westtown School	Hockessin, DE
G	23	Kelsey Joens	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	West Liberty Iowa State	Iowa City, Iowa
F	25	Denae Carter	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	St. Basil Academy Mississippi State	Philadelphia, PA
G	24	Dani Ceseretti	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	So	Northfield Mount Hermon	Barrington, RI
F	43	Annie Welde	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Cardinal O'Hara	Bridgeville, PA
G	44	Maggie Grant	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Archbishop John Carroll	Downingtown, PA
F	45	Rachel Wirts	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	So	Center Grove	Greenwood, IN

Head coach

Denise Dillon (Villanova)

Assistant coach(es)

Joe Mullaney (Providence)
Michelle Sword (Saint Joseph's)
Tiara Malcom (Delaware)
Jess Genco (Northeastern)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 14, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Lafayette	W 70–38	1–0	13 – Henry	7 – Carter	5 – McCurry	Finneran Pavilion (1,061) Villanova, PA
November 5, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Fairfield	L 63–75	1–1	30 – Bascoe	8 – Bascoe	4 – Kennedy	Finneran Pavilion (1,211) Villanova, PA
November 9, 2025* 2:00 p.m., YouTube		vs. VCU	W 74–40	2–1	17 – Bascoe	6 – 2 Tied	7 – Kennedy	Mattamy Athletic Centre Toronto, ON
November 10, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Princeton	L 68–73	2–2	16 – Bascoe	6 – 2 Tied	5 – McCurry	Finneran Pavilion (1,051) Villanova, PA
November 16, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at James Madison	W 84–73	3–2	18 – McCurry	5 – Tied	7 – McCurry	Atlantic Union Bank Center (2,255) Harrisonburg, VA
November 22, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Temple Big 5 Classic Pod 2	W 88–58	4–2	19 – Allen	8 – McCurry	7 – Ceseretti	Finneran Pavilion (1,551) Villanova, PA
November 25, 2025* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		at La Salle Big 5 Classic Pod 2	W 66–54	5–2	18 – McCurry	7 – McCurry	5 – McCurry	John Glaser Arena (287) Philadelphia, PA
December 1, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 25 West Virginia	W 81–59	6–2	24 – Bascoe	9 – McCurry	6 – Bascoe	Hope Coliseum (2,661) Morgantown, WV
December 4, 2025 2:00 p.m., Peacock		at Georgetown	W 76–69	7–2 (1–0)	26 – Bascoe	7 – McCurry	4 – Tied	McDonough Arena (383) Washington, D.C.
December 7, 2025* 4:30 p.m.		Saint Joseph's Big 5 Classic Championship	W 76–70	8–2	21 – McCurry	8 – Carter	5 – Bascoe	Finneran Pavilion (1,242) Villanova, PA
December 19, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Seton Hall	W 72–55	9–2 (2–0)	20 – Bascoe	7 – Bascoe	8 – McCurry	Finneran Pavilion (1,113) Villanova, PA
December 22, 2025 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		St. John's	W 85–48	10–2 (3–0)	21 – Bascoe	9 – Carter	9 – Bascoe	Finneran Pavilion (909) Villanova, PA
December 29, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at DePaul	W 81–48	11–2 (4–0)	18 – McCurry	7 – Tied	7 – McCurry	Wintrust Arena (1,420) Chicago, IL
January 1, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Creighton	W 74–64	12–2 (5–0)	19 – Henry	6 – Tied	6 – Bascoe	Finneran Pavilion (1,527) Villanova, PA
January 4, 2026 4:00 p.m., Peacock		at Marquette	L 69–85	12–3 (5–1)	20 – Bascoe	5 – Tied	4 – Tied	Al McGuire Center (1,660) Milwaukee, WI
January 8, 2026 11:30 a.m., ESPN+		Xavier	W 67–50	13–3 (6–1)	18 – Jones	7 – McCurry	7 – Bascoe	Finneran Pavilion (1,511) Villanova, PA
January 11, 2026 12:00 p.m., TruTV		at Providence	W 85–55	14–3 (7–1)	20 – McCurry	8 – Carter	7 – Tied	Alumni Hall (816) Providence, RI
January 15, 2026 7:00 p.m., FS1		at No. 1 UConn	L 50–99	14–4 (7–2)	12 – Henry	5 – McCurry	4 – Bascoe	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,244) Storrs, CT
January 18, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Butler	W 73–65	15–4 (8–2)	22 – Bascoe	5 – McCurry	6 – Bascoe	Finneran Pavilion (1,741) Villanova, PA
January 24, 2026 2:00 p.m., FS1		at St. John's	L 58–71	15–5 (8–3)	12 – Allen	7 – Henry	5 – Bascoe	Carnesecca Arena (1,039) Queens, NY
January 27, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Providence	W 83–68	16–5 (9–3)	22 – Bascoe	7 – Carter	6 – Bascoe	Finneran Pavilion (1,069) Villanova, PA
January 31, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		DePaul	W 69–56	17–5 (10–3)	27 – Bascoe	7 – Bender	6 – Henry	Finneran Pavilion (2,015) Villanova, PA
February 4, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Butler	W 67–57	18–5 (11–3)	27 – Bascoe	5 – Henry	5 – Bascoe	Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,176) Indianapolis, IN
February 7, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Georgetown	W 67–55	19–5 (12–3)	19 – Bascoe	6 – Joens	6 – Carter	Finneran Pavilion (1,651) Villanova, PA
February 11, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Xavier	W 78–38	20–5 (13–3)	18 – Bascoe	9 – Watson	7 – Bascoe	Cintas Center (1,069) Cincinnati, OH
February 15, 2026 5:00 p.m., TruTV		at Creighton	W 74–64	21–5 (14–3)	21 – Bascoe	9 – McCurry	5 – Bascoe	D. J. Sokol Arena (1,465) Omaha, NE
February 18, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock		No. 1 UConn	L 69–83	21–6 (14–4)	26 – Bascoe	9 – Bascoe	7 – Bascoe	Finneran Pavilion (3,719) Villanova, PA
February 22, 2026 3:30 p.m., Peacock		Marquette	W 64–39	22–6 (15–4)	18 – Bascoe	5 – Tied	7 – Bascoe	Finneran Pavilion (1,651) Villanova, PA
February 26, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock		at Seton Hall	W 82–52	23–6 (16–4)	28 – Bascoe	8 – McCurry	7 – Bascoe	Walsh Gymnasium (1,262) South Orange, NJ
Big East tournament
March 7, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock	(2)	vs. (7) Providence Quarterfinals	W 73–65	24–6	31 – Bascoe	12 – Henry	4 – Watson	Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT
March 8, 2026 4:00 p.m., Peacock	(2)	vs. (3) Seton Hall Semifinals	W 62–48	25–6	16 – McCurry	7 – Carter	5 – Henry	Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT
March 9, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock	(2)	vs. (1) No. 1 UConn Finals	L 51–90	25–7	14 – Bascoe	7 – Henry	3 – Henry	Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT
NCAA tournament
March 20, 2026* 8:30 p.m., ESPNU	(10 S2)	vs. (7 S2) No. 25 Texas Tech First Round	L 52–57	25–8	21 – Bascoe	9 – McCurry	6 – Bascoe	Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S2=Sacramento 2. All times are in Eastern.

Source:^[1]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	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	RV	RV
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV

References

^ "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Villanova.com. Retrieved November 14, 2025.

[1] "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Villanova.com. Retrieved November 14, 2025.

[1]

Villanova Wildcats women's basketball
Venues	Jake Nevin Field House (1969–1986, 2017–18) Finneran Pavilion (1986–2017, 2018–present)
Rivalries	Saint Joseph's
Culture & lore	Will D. Cat City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 Big 5 Classic "V for Villanova"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26