TORONTO -- On Sunday afternoon, the Villanova Wildcats traveled to Toronto, Canada, where they registered a 74-40 win over the Virginia Commonwealth Rams. With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 2-1 on the year, while VCU falls to 1-1 on the young season.

The game was a homecoming for sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe who grew up outside of Toronto in Milton, Ontario. Freshman guard MD Ntambue is also a native of Canada hailing from Montreal.

Both teams started slow with the score tied at 4-4 midway through the opening quarter. Following a three-point field goal by Wildcat junior Kelsey Joens that gave Villanova a 7-4 advantage, VCU ran off seven straight points to take an 11-7 lead.

Villanova closed out the first quarter scoring when Bascoe drained a triple that cut the Rams lead to 11-10 after one quarter of play. The Wildcats struggled on the offensive end in the game's first 10 minutes connecting on just 4-of-17 from the field.

The Wildcats led 23-19 with 4:06 remaining in the second quarter, when Villanova closed the period on a 14-4 run to take a 37-23 lead into halftime. Freshman Brooke Bender had five points in the spurt, including a three from the corner and a lay-up.

Senior forward Denae Carter gave the Wildcats good minutes in the second quarter scoring six points in the period.

Villanova took control of the game over the first four minutes of the second half, when the Wildcats scored the first nine points of the third quarter to open-up a 46-23 lead. Carter had four of the nine points, while freshman Kennedy Henry drained a three and Kylee Watson connected on a basket in the paint.

The Wildcats would shoot 57.1 percent from the field in the third quarter (8-of-14) and out score the Rams by a 21-10 margin to lead 58-33 after three.
Villanova would lead by as many as 35 in the fourth quarter and cruise to the victory.

In the win, Bascoe led Villanova with 17 points to go with five rebounds and four assists. Bender came off the bench to tally 16 points and Carter finished with 12 points. Carter was 5-of-6 from the field.

VCU was led by Mary-Anna Asare with 13 points.

For the game, Villanova was 30-of-64 (46.9%) from the field, 11-of-25 from three-point range (44.0%) and 3-of-5 from the foul line (60.0%), while the Rams shot 33.3 percent from the floor (17-of-51), 14.3 percent from long distance (2-of-14) and 40.0 percent from the charity stripe (4-of-10). Villanova owned a 39-32 advantage on the backboards.

The Wildcats return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 12, when Princeton visits the Finneran Pavilion. Game time is set for 7 p.m.