VILLANOVA, PA. – The Villanova Wildcats advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003 with a convincing 76-57 win over the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 30-6 on the season, while Florida Gulf Coast ends its season at 33-4.
 
Villanova advances to the Sweet 16 on Friday in Greenville, S.C., at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena and will take on the No. 9 seed Miami Hurricanes. Miami earned a 70-68 win over No. 1 seed Indiana.
 
The Wildcats started quickly racing to a 16-4 lead. Senior star Maddy Siegrist led the early charge scoring eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.  Villanova used the early spurt to lead 25-11 after one quarter of play.
 
Offensive efficiency was the difference in the opening quarter, as Villanova was 12-of-20 from the field, while Florida Gulf Coast was just 4-for-13 with five turnovers.
 
A lay-up by Katlyn Orihel gave the Wildcats a 37-24 lead with 5:10 to play in the second quarter. With momentum on the Wildcats side, Florida Gulf Coast responded with a 9-2 run to close the half and cut the Wildcat advantage to 39-33 at halftime. Sha Carter led the Eagle charge with five of her team's nine points.
 
Villanova took control of the game at the start of the second half, when the Wildcats started the third quarter on a 15-2 run to open-up 54-35 lead. Siegrist was dominant in the spurt scoring nine of the 15 points, including the first seven to start the quarter. The other six points included four points from sophomore center Christina Dalce and a pull-up jumper by sophomore guard Lucy Olsen.
 
The Wildcats shot 62.5 percent from the floor and 5-of-5 from the foul line in the third quarter en route to a 26-point period. Villanova used the dominant quarter to lead 65-49 after three.      
       
After a Carter bucket made it a 67-51 game, the Wildcats got a three-ball by junior Bella Runyan, a lay-up from Siegrist and two free throws by Olsen to take a commanding 74-51 lead.
 
In the victory, Siegrist led the way with a game-high 31 points. She was 13-of-24 from the field and 5-of-5 from the foul line. Olsen scored a career-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds and seven assists. Senior Brooke Mullin added seven points, five assists and four rebounds.
 
Carter paced Florida Gulf Coast with 11 points, while Alyza Winston tallied 10 points. Uju Ezeudu chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds.
 
For the game, Villanova was 32-of-67 from the field (47.8%), 5-of-22 from three-point range (22.7%) and 7-of-8 from the foul line (87.5%), while the Eagles shot 35.6 percent from the floor (21-of-59), 33.3 percent from long distance (7-of-21) and 88.9 percent from the charity stripe (8-of-9).  Villanova owned a 42-30 advantage on the backboards.
 
NOTES: Villanova improves to 11-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament…The Wildcats have won 24 of their last 26 homes games, including 13-2 this year…Villanova set a school record for wins in a season with 30…Tonight was career win number 400 for head coach Denise Dillon…Villanova has won 21 of its last 24 games…Maddy Siegrist set a NCAA Division I record for consecutive games of scoring 20 points or more in 36 straight games…Maddy Siegrist now has 16 games of 30 points or more this year and 33 for her career…Villanova has made at least one three-point field goal in 617 consecutive games.