Denise Dillon

Denise Dillon (born September 22, 1973)[1] is the head women's basketball coach at Villanova.

This article is about the basketball coach. For the actress, see Denny Dillon.
Denise Dillon
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamVillanova
ConferenceBig East
Record71–23 (.755)
Biographical details
Born (1973-09-22) September 22, 1973
Playing career
1992–1996Villanova
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1997–2001Villanova (assistant)
2001–2003Drexel (assistant)
2003–2020Drexel
2020–presentVillanova
Head coaching record
Overall400–234 (.631)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
WNIT (2013)
3 CAA regular season (2009, 2018, 2020)
CAA Tournament (2009)
Awards
3× CAA Coach of the Year (2005, 2009, 2018, 2019)
1x BEC Coach of the Year (2022)

Career

She returned to her alma mater from Drexel, where she was the program's most successful coach since it moved to Division I in 1982–83. She had been at the helm of the Dragons program since 2003, and was named the 2005, 2009, 2018, and 2020 CAA Coach of the Year.[2]

Dillon guided the Dragons to the 2009 CAA Championship and a berth in that year's NCAA tournament. The star of that team was Gabriela Mărginean, a junior at the time who would go on to become the all-time scoring leader in the history of Philadelphia area collegiate women's basketball. Following that championship season, Dillon steered the Dragons to four-consecutive WNIT appearances, the program's first-ever postseason victory in the 2012 WNIT over Fairfield, and the 2013 WNIT championship.[3]

From 1993 to 1996, she was a star basketball player at Villanova University. She earned three All Big-East honors at Villanova. She became just the 12th player in school history to score 1,000 points. She later served as an assistant on the Wildcats basketball team from 1997 to 2001. For her playing career, Dillon was enshrined in the Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame,[4] the Villanova Wildcats Hall of Fame,[5] and her native Delaware County, Pennsylvania Athletics Hall of Fame.[6]

On March 27, 2020, it was announced that Dillon would become the head coach of Villanova's Women's Basketball team; taking the helm from coach Harry Perretta after his 42nd season with the team.[7]

In 2022, Dillon was named the Big East Coach of the Year. The team was picked to finish 5th in the preseason polls, but the team ended up in second place behind the University of Connecticut.[8] Dillon's Villanova Wildcats earned an invitation to the NCAA women's basketball tournament, and upset sixth-seeded BYU in the opening-round behind 25 points from Maddy Siegrist.[9]

Head Coaching Record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Drexel (Colonial Athletic Association) (2003–2020)
2003–04 Drexel 10–187–11T–7th
2004–05 Drexel 19–1012–63rd
2005–06 Drexel 15–149–9T–6th
2006–07 Drexel 10–214–149th
2007–08 Drexel 18–1213–5T–3rd
2008–09 Drexel 24–916–21stNCAA First Round
2009–10 Drexel 17–1411–7T–4thWNIT First Round
2010–11 Drexel 19–1310–8T–5thWNIT First Round
2011–12 Drexel 19–1412–63rdWNIT Second Round
2012–13 Drexel 28–1013–53rdWNIT Champions
2013–14 Drexel 15–169–7T-3rd
2014–15 Drexel 20–1114–42ndWNIT First Round
2015–16 Drexel 19–1413–5T–2ndWNIT First Round
2016–17 Drexel 22–1111–73rdWNIT Second Round
2017–18 Drexel 27–816–2T-1stWNIT Second Round
2018–19 Drexel 24–914–42ndWNIT First Round
2019–20 Drexel 23–716–2T–1st Postseason cancelled due to COVID-19
Drexel: 329–211 (.609)200–104 (.658)
Villanova (Big East) (2020–present)
2020–21 Villanova 17–79–55thWNIT Quarterfinals
2021–22 Villanova 24–915–42ndNCAA Second Round
2022–23 Villanova 30–717–32ndNCAA Sweet Sixteen
Villanova: 71–23 (.755)41–12 (.774)
Total:400–234 (.631)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References
  1. "Women's Basketball". NCAA. Retrieved 16 Aug 2015.
  2. "Denise Dillon – Women's Basketball Coach". Villanova University. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  3. "Drexel Dragons Win 2013 WNIT Championship". womensnit.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  4. "Philadelphia Big 5 | Hall of Fame". www.philadelphiabig5.org. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  5. "Villanova Sweeps List of 2004 Big Five Hall of Fame Inductees". Villanova University. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  6. "Basketball". Welcome to the Home of the Delaware County Athletes Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  7. "OFFICIAL: Villanova announces Denise Dillon as Women's Basketball Head Coach". Women's HoopDirt. 2020-03-27. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  8. Elvin, Gus. "Villanova's Maddy Siegrist named Big East Player of the Year, Denise Dillon wins Coach of the Year". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  9. "No. 11 Villanova women knock off No. 6 BYU 61–57". ABC News. Retrieved 2022-04-09.


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