WASHINGTON, DC. – The Villanova Wildcats traveled to Washington, D.C., on Thursday evening where they lost to the American University Eagles by a score of 76-54. With the loss, Villanova falls to 0-3 on the season, while American improves to 1-1.

American came out strong shooting 52.9 percent in the first quarter en route to a 23-5 lead after one. Jade Edwards and Kaitlyn Marenyi led the Eagle charge in the opening quarter with nine and seven points respectively. Villanova struggled in the opening 10 minutes connecting on just 1-of-12 from the field. Villanova also committed six first quarter turnovers.

The Eagles led 30-12 with 7:24 to play in the second quarter, when Villanova scored seven straight points to cut the lead to 30-19 at the 4:43 mark. All seven Wildcat points were scored by redshirt freshman Madison Siegrist including a three-point field goal, a drive lay-up and a post move in the paint.

American led 32-22 with 3:55 remaining until halftime when the Eagles scored six of the final eight points of the half to lead 38-24 at intermission. Emily Fisher had four of the six points for the Eagles with Edwards accounting for the other two.

After Cameron Onken made one of two from the foul line to make it a 41-27 game, American used an 11-4 spurt to open up a 52-31 lead with 3:37 left in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats then responded by outscoring the Eagles by a 14-8 margin the rest of the quarter to close within 60-45 after three. Villanova hit four triples in the run with freshman Brooke Mullin connecting on two and Siegrist and redshirt freshman Kenzie Gardler making one apiece.

The Eagles put the game away over the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to open up a 67-45 lead.

In the loss, Siegrist led the way for Villanova with 22 points and eight rebounds, while senior forward Mary Gedaka had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Edwards led American with a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds. Fisher had 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field.

For the game, Villanova was 20-of-62 from the field (32.2%), 7-of-28 from three-point range (25.0%) and 7-of-9 from the foul line (77.8%), while American shot 51.9 percent from the floor (27-of-52), 38.9 percent from behind the arc (7-of-18) and 88.2 percent from the charity stripe (15-of-17). American owned a 35-31 advantage on the backboards.

Villanova returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 17, with a game at Fordham. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.