The 2026–27 Villanova Wildcats women's basketball team will represent Villanova University during the 2026–27 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by seventh-year head coach Denise Dillon, will play their home games at the Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and compete as a member of the Big East Conference.

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2025–26 season 25–8 overall and 16–4 in Big East play, to finish second in the conference. As the No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament, they earned a bye to the quarterfinals, where they defeated No. 7 Providence before moving onto the semifinals, beating No. 4 Seton Hall. They then moved onto the championship game for the first time since 2023 where they fell 51–90 to top-seeded and undefeated UConn.

Following the Big East tournament, the Wildcats earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, where they were seeded No. 10 in the Sacramento #2 Regional. They lost 52–57 in the first round to No. 7 Texas Tech to end their season.

Offseason Departures Villanova departures MD Ntambue 3 Guard 5'9" Frehsman Montreal, Quebec Transferred to Loyola Chicago Kylee Watson 4 Forward 6'4" Graduate Student Linwood, NJ Graduated Ryanne Allen 5 Guard 6'1" Senior Perkasie, PA Graduated Denae Carter 25 Forward 6'0" Senior Philadelphia, PA Graduated Annie Welde 43 Forward 6'0" Senior Havertown, PA Graduated Maggie Grant 44 Guard 6'0" Senior Downingtown, PA Graduated

Incoming transfers Villanova incoming transfers Simone Pelish 2 Guard 6'0" Sophomore Poughkeepsie, NY Miami (FL) Anna Foley 33 Forward 6'3" Senior Andover, MA Quinnipiac

Recruiting class There was no 2026 recruiting class.

Preseason On October 1, 2026, the Big East Conference released its annual preseason coaches poll and awards. Villanova was once again picked to finish second in the conference.

Preseason rankings +Big East Preseason Poll Place Team Votes 1 100 (10) 2 90 (1) 3 78 4 68 5 67 6 60 7 38 8 36 9 29 10 21 11 18 Source:

Preseason All-Big East Team Preseason All-Big East Team Jasmine Bascoe Junior Guard Kennedy Henry Sophomore Guard

Honorable Mentions No players were named Big East preseason honorable mentions.

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Roster

Schedule and results

!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition

!colspan=12 style=""| Regular season

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References