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CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (Feb. 24) – A layup at the buzzer rattled out as the Saint Vincent women's basketball team held on and advanced to the finals of the 2012 Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament with a 56-54 win over Waynesburg University.

With the win, the Bearcats improve to 22-5 on the season and avenge two previous losses to the Yellow Jackets during the regular season. Waynesburg falls to 20-7 and will now await a bid to either the NCAA or ECAC Tournaments.

SVC built a six-point lead, 52-46, with 2:28 remaining on a layup by junior forward Devin McGrath on a backdoor cut where freshman guard Elle Collins found her under the hoop. On the ensuing Waynesburg possession, Paige Pearce made two free throws to cut the lead to four points with 2:16 to play.

Pearce again sank a pair of free throws with 1:32 to play to make it a two-point game, 52-50. Collins answered back with a pair of shots at the charity strip to extend the lead back to four points with 1:04 in the game. A layup by senior guard Emily Fenton extended the lead to five points, 56-51, with 23 seconds to play before Waynesburg's Hannah Hunter connected on the Yellow Jackets' only three-pointer of the night with 13 seconds to go.

On the ensuing possession, Fenton tried a long outlet pass to freshman guard Jessica Welch, who was fouled, but missed the front end of the one-and-one and was rebounded by Waynesburg, leading to Pearce's missed layup at time expired.

With SVC trailing, 15-11, at the 9:20 mark of the first half, Fenton scored eight-straight Bearcat points on an 8-3 run to cut the deficit to one point, 20-19, with just over six minutes remaining in the first half. The Bearcats followed that run with an 8-2 run highlighted by four points by junior guard Melissa Mansur and a three-pointer by Collins, to take a 25-20 lead with 3:44 in the opening period.

A layup by McGrath with eight seconds in the first half sent the Bearcats into the locker room with a 28-24 lead.

Senior forward Brittany Sedlock opened the second half with three points in the first two minutes and Collins connected on a three-pointer with 16:30 to go in the game to extend the lead to eight points, 34-26. Waynesburg answered with a 9-0 run to take a 35-34 lead with 13:30 to play. The run was stopped by four points from Collins.

Sedlock tied the game, 44-44, with 7:18 to go before Collins connected from beyond-the-arc once again at the 6:51 mark to give a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way.

Fenton led all scorers with 16 points, including 11 in the first half while Collins added 14 points. Sedlock finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds and McGrath tallied nine points, 13 rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks.

For the game, SVC shot 32.8 percent (20-of-61) from the field and 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from three-point range.  The Bearcats held a three-rebound advantage, 48-45, and held Waynesburg to just 5.9 percent (1-of-17) from beyond-the-arc, after allowing the Yellow Jackets to connect on 62.5 percent (10-of-16) three-pointers the last time the two teams met.

The Bearcats now advance to the PAC Championship Game tomorrow evening, Saturday, Feb. 24, against the winner of the other semifinal game between No. 1-seeded Thomas More and No. 4-seeded Bethany.

NOTES:  Following the game, the All-PAC teams were announced with three Bearcats honored. Fenton was named Honorable Mention All-PAC while McGrath and Sedlock were named First-Team. Sedlock also repeated as the PAC Player of the Year.