VILLANOVA, PA. –  In women's basketball action on Sunday afternoon, the Villanova Wildcats fell to the visiting James Madison Dukes by a score of 71-67. With the loss, Villanova falls to 6-6 on the year, while James Madison improves to 8-3.

Maddie Burke led the early Villanova charge scoring eight of her team's first 10 points. James Madison got scoring from four different players over the first five minutes of the game to lead 11-10 at the first media timeout.

The Wildcats got a three-ball by sophomore guard Maddie Webber and pull-up jumper by Bronagh Power-Cassidy to take an 18-13 lead, before James Madison scored the final four points of the opening period to cut the Wildcat advantage to 18-17.

The second quarter went back and forth with neither team able to open-up more than a four point lead. Hot shooting was the theme in the second, as both teams were 9-of-16 from the field. After a jumper by Dukes guard Roshala Scott sliced the Villanova lead to 37-36, Wildcat freshman point guard Jasmine Bascoe closed out the first half scoring with a conventional three-point play. The Bascoe and one sent the Wildcats to halftime with a 40-36 lead.

Webber led Villanova in the first half with 12 points. Scott and Peyton McDaniel highlighted the Dukes with nine points each.

Villanova led 54-48 in the latter stages of the third quarter, when Bascoe scored four straight points on a jump shot and two free throws to increase the Wildcat advantage to 58-48. James Madison closed out the third quarter scoring on a three-point play by forward Annalicia Goodman that sent the game to the fourth quarter with Villanova leading 58-51.

The Dukes started the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run that cut the Wildcat lead to 60-58. Villanova stopped the momentum at the 5:01 mark, when Power-Cassidy drained a triple from the left wing to give the Wildcats a 63-58 advantage.

James Madison answered right back with seven unanswered points to take its first lead of the second half at 65-63 with 2:17 remaining. Following the bucket that gave James Madison the 65-63 lead, Villanova tied the game on its next possession when Burke connected on a 10-foot turn around jumper in the lane.

The tie was short lived, as the Dukes went one-of-two from the free throw line on their next possession to grab a 66-65 advantage. After each team failed to score, the Dukes split a pair at the line and led 67-65.

With 1:14 on the clock, Burke was fouled on a drive to the basket and sent to the line.  Burke calmly drained both free throws and the game was even at 67-67. Villanova got a defensive stop and had a chance to take the lead, but Jalyah Green's jumper would not fall. With the shot clock off, James Madison ran the clock down and scored the game-winning basket on a driving lay-up by Jamia Hazell with 3.8 seconds left.

Villanova had a timeout and used it to advance the ball to the frontcourt. The Wildcats got the ball to Bascoe who drove baseline, but she stepped out of bounds on the drive with under a second to play.

In the loss, Webber led the Wildcats with 16 points, while Burke added 15 points. Bascoe and Power-Cassidy tallied 11 points each. Junior Ryanne Allen chipped in with four points and a team-high eight rebounds.

James Madison was paced by McDaniel with 13 points and Hazell who had 12 points.

For the game, Villanova was 25-of-62 from the field (40.3%), 7-of-24 from three (29.2%) and 10-of-10 from the foul line, while the Dukes shot 41.8 percent from the floor (28-of-67), 23.1 percent from long distance (3-of-13) and 70.6 percent from then charity stripe (12-of-17). James Madison owned a 43-34 advantage on the backboards.

Villanova returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 21, when the St. John's Red Storm visit the Finneran Pavilion for the BIG EAST opener. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

NOTES: Today was just the fifth all-time meeting between Villanova and James Madison…For the second straight game Villanova had four players reach double figures…The Wildcats fall to 3-2 at home this season…Jasmine Bascoe has reached double figures in scoring in 11 of the 12 games this year…Maddie Webber has now scored double figures in 10 of the 12 games.