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NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Nov. 30) - The Saint Vincent women's basketball opened Presidents' Athletic Conference action with a 72-62 win over Westminster at Buzz Ridl Gymnasium.

With the win, the Bearcats begin conference play 1-0 while boosting their overall record to 4-1. Westminster drops to 0-5 on the season and 0-1 in the league.

SVC began the game on a 9-2 run as senior guard Emily Fenton scored the Bearcats first four points. Junior guard Melissa Mansur stretched the lead to 7-2 when she recorded a traditional three-point play on a fastbreak lay-up following a steal 2:28 into the game. Saint Vincent built its lead to 12 points three different times in the first half including 27-15 at the 7:21-mark on a made free throw by junior Savannah Hardy and at with 6:45 remaining on a lay-up from freshman Kelley Sedlock. After a Mansur three pointer gave the Bearcats a 32-21 lead with 5:13 remaining, Westminster scored 10 of the final 16 points in the half to make the halftime score 36-31.

The Bearcats recorded the first two points of the second half on a fastbreak layup by Mansur before the Titans embarked on a 12-4 run to take their first lead of the game, 43-42, with 14:57 remaining. The run was broken up in the middle by a four-point play by senior forward Brittany Sedlock, her first three pointer of the season. SVC then went on a 10-2 run -- in which Brittany Sedlock scored five of the 10 points -- over the next three-plus minutes to expand the lead back to seven points, 52-45, with 11:22 remaining. Westminster tied the game, 55-55, at the 6:28-mark on a layup by Katie Hughes and again, 57-57, with 4:17 left in the game before SVC closed out the game with a 15-5 run to win, 72-62.

Brittany Sedlock led all scorers with 20 points, including 14 in the second half, on 5-of-10 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line, while also adding 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Elle Collins registered 11 points while Fenton chipped in 10 points. Mansur, McGrath and freshman Jessica Welch each finished with eight points against Westminster.

Three players posted double-doubles for Westminster as Courtney Zitt posted team-highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Saint Vincent connected on 41.5 percent (22-of-53) shots from the floor and finished 23-of-35 (65.7 percent) at the free-throw line after making 9-of-10 (90.9 percent) from the charity stripe in the first half.

The Titans held a commanding 54-25 advantage on the boards while SVC forced Westminster into 27 turnovers while committing just 16.

Saint Vincent returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 3, traveling to Pittsburgh for a 2 p.m. PAC match-up with Chatham.