Sept. 5, 2001

Villanova University Director of Athletics Vince Nicastro today announced the 2001-2002 Wildcat women's basketball schedule. As was the case last year, Villanova will play 16 Big East Conference games, four games as part of in-season tournaments and seven non conference contests.

"I think we have a very challenging schedule," said head coach Harry Perretta who will be entering his 24th season at Villanova in 2001-2002. "We play a lot of games in a short period of time in December, so we will need to be ready right from the start. Following Christmas, we get into our conference schedule where every game is a battle in the Big East."

The home portion of the 2001-2002 schedule is highlighted with both defending National Champion Notre Dame and 2001 Final Four participant Connecticut visiting The Pavilion. Notre Dame will play on the Main Line on Saturday, Jan. 12, while Connecticut visits a week later on Saturday, Jan. 19. Besides Notre Dame and Connecticut, the Wildcats will also play Big East home games against West Virginia, Boston College, Miami, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech.

Villanova will play in the Fairfield University Thanksgiving Tournament and will once again host the PNC Wildcat Christmas Classic. Joining the Wildcats in the Fairfield Tournament will be Quinnipiac, Harvard and the host Stags. The Wildcat Christmas Classic will feature Alabama, Massachusetts and Rider.

The Big Five part of the schedule will include two home dates and two away contests. Villanova will battle St. Joseph's (Dec. 7) and Pennsylvania (Dec. 11) at home and will play at LaSalle (Nov. 28) and at Temple (Dec. 1).

Rounding out the non-conference slate will be away games at Penn State (season opener-Nov. 16) and at North Carolina (Feb. 6) and a home game with Morgan State on Dec. 21.

Villanova returns four starters from last year's squad that finished 22-9 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

2001-2002 Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 4 N.Y. Gazelles Villanova, Pa.

Sun. Nov. 11 Foreign Team Villanova, Pa.

Fri. Nov. 16 at Penn State State College, Pa.

Sat.- Nov. 24-25 Fairfield Tournament Fairfield, Conn.

Sun. vs. Quinnipiac

Consolation/Championship

Wed. Nov. 28 at La Salle Philadelphia, Pa.

Sat. Dec. 1 at Temple Philadelphia, Pa.

Fri. Dec. 7 St. Joseph's Villanova, Pa.

Tue. Dec. 11 Pennsylvania Villanova, Pa.

Fri. Dec. 21 Morgan State Villanova, Pa.

Sat.- Dec. 29-30 PNC Wildcat Classic Villanova, Pa.

Sun.

Thu. Jan. 3 West Virginia Villanova, Pa.

Sun. Jan. 6 at St. John's Jamaica, N.Y.

Wed. Jan. 9 at Providence Providence, R.I.

Sat. Jan. 12 Notre Dame Villanova, Pa.

Wed. Jan. 16 at Seton Hall South Orange, N.J.

Sat. Jan. 19 Connecticut Villanova, Pa.

Wed. Jan. 23 Boston College Villanova, Pa.

Sat. Jan. 26 at West Virginia Morgantown, WV

Tue. Jan. 29 Miami Villanova, Pa.

Sat. Feb. 2 at Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y.

Wed. Feb. 6 at North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C.

Sat. Feb. 9 at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J.

Wed. Feb. 13 Pittsburgh Villanova, Pa.

Sat. Feb. 16 Syracuse Villanova, Pa.

Wed. Feb. 20 at Georgetown Washington, D.C.

Sat. Feb. 23 Virginia Tech Villanova, Pa.

Tue. Feb. 26 at Notre Dame Notre Dame, Ind.

Mar. 3-6 Big East Tournament Piscataway, N.J.