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VILLANOVA, PA. - The Villanova Wildcats opened up the home portion of 2017-18 season in fine fashion on Sunday afternoon with a 64-55 upset win over No. 11 Duke. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 3-0 on the season, while the Blue Devils fall to 2-1.

Villanova made just 7-of-30 from the field, including a 5-of-20 effort from three-point range in the first half, as Duke went to halftime with a 28-22 lead. The Blue Devils were 11-of-27 and 1-of-6 from long distance.

After Duke's Leaonna Odom scored on a lay-up on the first possession of the second half to give her team a 30-22 advantage, the Wildcats went on a 14-0 run to take a 36-30 lead with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter. A three by junior forward Jannah Tucker started the run, before sophomore guard Kelly Jekot and senior guard Alex Louin scored on back-to-back lay-ups. Louin then gave Villanova the lead for good when she drained a three from straight away and was fouled on the play. Louin made the free throw to finish off the four point play to give Villanova a 33-30 lead.

Neither team was able to score for the next 3:05 until Jekot finished off the 14-0 spurt with a triple from the corner. The trifecta gave the Wildcats a 36-30 lead with 4:30 to go in the third quarter.

Odom pulled the Blue Devils within five at 39-34 on a lay-up with 2:14 on the clock, before Villanova closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 48-36 lead after three. The nine Wildcat points included three-point field goals by junior guard Adrianna Hahn, Jekot and Louin.

Villanova was 9-of-16 from the field in the third quarter for 56.3 percent and 7-of-13 from long distance for 53.8 percent.

The Wildcats took their biggest lead of the game at the 6:42 mark of the fourth quarter when Jekot connected on her seventh three of the game to increase the Villanova lead to 56-41. Following the Jekot triple, Duke responded with six straight points to slice the Villanova advantage to 56-47 with 4:26 remaining.

After a Wildcat turnover, the Blue Devils had possession and a chance to get closer, but Duke misfired on a three and two short jumpers. Villanova put the game away on the next possession when Louin drained a deep three to put the Wildcats up 59-47 with 3:09 on the clock. Duke would not get within eight the rest of the way following the Louin three-ball.

In the win, Jekot scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a 7-of-9 effort from three-point range. The seven threes also represent a career-high performance. Louin finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Tucker added 10 points.

Duke was paced by Lexie Brown with 16 points and Odom who had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

For the game, Villanova was 20-of-55 from the field (36.4%), 15-of-40 from three-point range (37.5%) and 9-of-11 from the foul line (81.8%), while Duke shot 37.5 percent from the field (21-of-56), 16.7 percent from behind the arc (2-of-12) and 68.8 percent from the charity stripe (11-of-16). The Blue Devils owned a 44-26 advantage on the backboards. The Wildcats were charged with just eight turnovers.

Villanova returns to action on Friday, Nov. 24, when the Wildcats play James Madison in the first round of the Vermont Thanksgiving Tournament. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

NOTES: Today was just the third all-time meeting between Villanova and Duke with the Blue Devils now owning a 2-1 advantage in the all-time seriesââ'¬Â¦Villanova improves to 133-104 all-time versus opponents that currently make-up the ACCââ'¬Â¦ The Wildcats improve to 96-30 all-time in games played in the Jake Nevin Field Houseââ'¬Â¦Villanova was credited with an assist on 15 of its 20 field goalsââ'¬Â¦The Wildcats have committed 15 total turnovers in the last two gamesââ'¬Â¦With her 17 points today Alex Louin moves up three spots to 17th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,083 points