BOX SCORE

HUNTINGDON, Pa. (Dec. 29) - Senior Taylor Mathers posted her fourth double-double of the season, but it wasn't enough as the Saint Vincent women's basketball team dropped the opener of the 2013 Comfort Inn Holiday Tournament at Juniata to DeSales, 80-73.

The loss drops the Bearcats to 5-4 on the season, while the Bulldogs improve to 7-2 this year.

Mathers led the way for SVC with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while junior Ally Schmidt matched her career high with 14 points and five rebounds in the loss. Sophomore Jillian Kegg added 11 points in her first career start.

SVC scored the first five points of the game, to take a 5-0 lead, but DeSales responded with a 7-0 run to earn their first lead of the contest. SVC claimed the lead back thanks to an 8-0 run that included two fastbreak layups. SVC led 13-7 with 14:19 left in the first half.

DeSales roared back though with 10-consecutive points to take a 17-13 lead, using a pair of three-pointers and four free-throws to capture a lead it would only relinquish once, when SVC tied the game 20-20 on a layup by Brianna Zajac with 8:06 remaining in the half.

The Bulldogs held a 43-36 lead at halftime, thanks in part to six three-pointers (on 13 attempts).

In the second half, SVC cut the lead to two points, 52-50, on a Mathers layup with 12:56 to play, but DeSales then out-scored the Bearcats, 20-7, over the next eight minutes to take a 16-point lead, 73-57, with 4:20 to play.

A 12-2 run from Saint Vincent that spanned just under three minutes cut the margin to six points, 75-69, on a Schmidt layup with 1:30 remaining, but that was as close as the Bearcats would get before suffering the eventual 80-73 loss.

For the game, SVC finished 42.3 percent (30-of-71) from the floor, but just 22.6 percent (7-of-31) from beyond-the-arc. DeSales recorded eight three-pointers, including six in the first half.

The Bulldogs also held a dominating 56-37 advantage in rebounds, including a game-best 17 boards from Alex Suk.

SVC will play the loser of Sunday's second game between host Juniata and Muskingum at 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 30.