Villanova has found their new head coach, and it’s a familiar face to Wildcat fans – Bridget Orchard, a program alum, will be the Wildcats’ next leader.
Orchard had been the head coach at Fordham for seventeen seasons, earning eight NCAA tournament berths. Orchard built the Rams into a perennial powerhouse in the Atlantic 10 conference and was named A-10 coach of the year seven times during her tenure.
Orchard owns a career record of 753-420-3 in twenty-one seasons as a head coach, including 624 during her tenure at Fordham. She led the Rams to six consecutive A-10 titles from 2013-18.
During her career with the Wildcats from 1994-97, Orchard held the program record for career hits and runs scored at the time of her graduation. She was also an all-Big East honoree in 1995.
She takes over a Villanova program that posted a 27-24-2 record in 2018, including a 10-8 mark in Big East play; the Wildcats advanced to the conference tournament, but were beaten 12-2 by DePaul in the tournament semifinals.
