VILLANOVA, PA – In the BIG EAST opener on Saturday afternoon at the Finneran Pavilion, the Villanova Wildcats led wire to wire and tallied a 71-57 win over the St. John's Red Storm. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 7-6 on the season, while St. John's falls to 10-2.

Villanova started fast, racing to an 11-1 lead. The Wildcats were sizzling from the field in the opening 10 minutes, connecting on 11-of-13 from the field en route to a 24-12 advantage after one.

Freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe led the way in the first period going 5-of-5 from the floor for 10 points.

Villanova used a 7-0 run midway through the second quarter to open-up a 35-18 lead. The seven points included a three-ball by Maddie Webber and lay-ups by Bascoe and Kaitlyn Orihel.

The Red Storm answered the Villanova run with a spurt of their own using an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 37-26 with 2:45 remaining until halftime. Bascoe closed the half by scoring five straight points to give the Wildcats a 42-26 halftime lead.

Bascoe was sensational in the first half scoring 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Webber finished the opening half with 10 points.

Villanova was 19-of-27 from the field in the first half for 70.4 percent.

The Wildcats scored the first six points of the second half to take a commanding 48-26 lead. Following two free throws by Bascoe, senior forward Denae Carter tallied a short jumper and an offensive rebound put back to account for the six Villanova points.

After the opening Villanova spurt, St. John's would not get within 18 the remainder of the quarter.

A turn-around jump shot by Bascoe at the 8:02 mark of the fourth quarter gave Villanova its biggest lead of the game at 66-42.

In the win, Bascoe led Villanova with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field and a 4-of-5 effort from the foul line. Burke, Carter and Webber all finished with 12 points. Carter and freshman Dani Ceseretti recorded seven rebounds.

St. John's was paced by Lashae Dwyer with 12 points and Arianna Vanderhoop who had 11 points.

For the game, Villanova was 27-of-51 from the field (52.9%), 6-of-12 from three-point range (50.0%) and 11-of-13 from the foul line (84.6%), while St. John's shot 33.3 percent from the floor (19-of-57), 29.4 percent from long distance (5-of-17) and 70.0 percent from the foul line (7-of-10). The Wildcats owned a 41-25 advantage on the backboards.

Villanova returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 1, when the Wildcats will play host to the Seton Hall Pirates. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m., and it can be seen live on FS1.