Villanova freshman guard and leading scorer Jasmine Bascoe, who just announced her decision to return for a second year, came to the Main Line this fall with high expectations.

After Villanova lost former leading scorer, Lucy Olsen, to Iowa, along with a handful of other players to enter the transfer portal after the 2024 season, head coach Denise Dillon needed someone to step up. And fast. 

Fortunately, the Milton, Ontario native was already familiar with what it’s like to play under the spotlight. In June of 2024, Bascoe earned a silver medal competing with the Canadian national team in the FIBA U18 World Cup. She averaged 14.8 points and 4.7 assists over six World Cup games, ending with a Women’s AmeriCup silver medal.

“Coming in, I was told before I came here that there would be expectations, and there was a small sense of pressure,” Bascoe said. “But nothing too crazy, because I was just really excited to play.” 

Bascoe embraced the pressure, and finished the 2024-2025 season, averaging 16.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. She also totaled a team-high 66 steals, the most by a freshman in program history.

But transition is hard. Especially when that transition is to a strong Big East team that is just two years out from a Sweet Sixteen appearance and looking for another NCAA tournament run.

“Overall, the physicality and speed of everything is just so much different here [in the United States],” Bascoe said.

A new life on an American college campus in the Philadelphia suburbs came with some of its own surprises for Bascoe. Her high school, King’s Christian Collegiate, had just 680 students.

“I was just so used to being in a little town,” Bascoe said.

Yet Bascoe adjusted. And then she began to thrive. In the season opener against Wake Forest on Nov. 10, she tallied 18 points, three rebounds and five assists. 

Bascoe’s impact on the court did not stop there. She had her first 20-plus point game against Saint Joseph’s on Dec. 1, where she notched 26 points against the Hawks in a dominant, 81-65 win. 

“I think [Bascoe’s] understanding of our system, our style and how she initiated that really came into play,” Dillon said. “You could see that process throughout the season.”

Bascoe earned her first award as Big East Rookie of the Week after the win over St. Joe’s. 

Competition began to intensify in the second half of the season as Villanova entered Big East play. The Wildcats went 11-7 in the Big East Conference, and ultimately finished in 5th place after a semifinal exit to the University of Connecticut in the Big East Tournament. 

“I think after the Big East and kind of towards the WBIT, I feel like the pressure was just higher because the stakes were a bit higher,” Bascoe said. “I think for me mentally, the biggest thing for me was just knowing that things are gonna be tough, and we just gotta keep pushing through.”

Bascoe and the Wildcats made their way to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) semifinal, where they fell to Belmont, 66-57. She had 10 points in the final game of Villanova’s 2024-25 campaign. 

Bascoe received First Team All-Big East honors and a spot on the Big East all-Freshman Team. She also became the second-ever Wildcat to earn all-Big East honors as a freshman, next to Maddy Siegrist (2019-23). She started in 27 of 28 games this past season and put up double-figures in 25 of those games. 

About 25% of NCAA women’s basketball players have entered the transfer portal this season. The Wildcats recently lost sophomore guard and second-leading scorer Maddie Webber, who entered the transfer portal on April 3 and joined the University of Illinois on April 13. 

“Right now we’re kind of in that foggy state,” Bascoe said of her teammate’s departure. “I think just losing such a big piece, it’s almost, like, can we work together as a team and kind of fill in that space?”

After the season’s end, fans were unsure of what jersey Bascoe herself would be wearing for her sophomore campaign.

But on Friday, April 11, the team announced on Instagram that Bascoe would be returning next season, with a graphic that read, “I’m back.” Villanova fans and former players, including Siegrist, expressed their excitement in the comment section of the post, which amassed more than 1,400 likes. 

“There is no clear set of what next year is gonna look like, and if I have to go and do so much more, I’m fine with that,” Bascoe said. 

While Villanova’s 2025-26 campaign is still uncertain as the transfer portal remains open, Bascoe is ready to do what it takes to win, regardless of who is on the roster. 

“We feel we are just tapping on the surface with what she’s capable of doing,” Dillon said. “If Jas continues to add to our game, and learn each day, then as a team, we continue to get better.”