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CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (Feb. 22) - The Bearcats were unable to overcome a halftime deficit and dropped the first of two Presidents' Athletic Conference semifinal match-ups, 76-70, against Washington & Jefferson at Thomas More.

With the loss, the Saint Vincent women's basketball team ends the season 20-7, while failing to reach the PAC Championship game for the first time in its three-year full-time membership in the PAC. W&J improves to 20-7 on the year and will face the winner of top-seeded Thomas More against fourth-seeded Waynesburg in the championship on Saturday, Feb. 23.

The two teams played very even basketball during the first half, as W&J took a 33-31 lead into the locker room after a layup by junior forward Ariel Rocco with 56 seconds left put SVC within two points. With SVC leading, 29-28, on a Rocco jumper at the 2:57-mark, W&J took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Emily Abraham, 31-29.

To begin the second half the Presidents opened up a 50-39 lead to begin the half thanks to a 17-8 spurt that included 10 points by W&J's Valerie Dunlap. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Jessica Welch at 10:17 snapped the streak and cut the margin to 50-42, but W&J used a 4-0 run to push the lead back to 12 points, 54-42.

Senior forward Jordan Clinton hit back-to-back layups to cut the deficit to eight points, but W&J continued to respond. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Elle Collins, followed by a Rocco free throw, made it a seven-point game, 58-51, with 4:54 remaining.

W&J answered with a 6-0 run before SVC countered with its own 6-0 run that included a Collins trifecta and a McGrath three-point play, 64-57. After two W&J free throws, Collins hit another triple with 2:14 to play, 66-60. Another pair of Presidents' free throws extended the lead back to eight points, but a layup by McGrath and a triple by Welch put SVC within three points, 68-65, with 1:44 to play.

Following a Dunlap free throw, a pair of McGrath freebies at 1:17 put SVC within two points, 69-67, with 1:17 to play. McGrath picked up her fifth foul and W&J hit seven-of-eight free throws down the stretch to take a 76-67 lead before Collins closed out the scoring with a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to post the 76-70 final.

For the game, W&J made 41.1 percent (23-of-56) of its field-goal attempts and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from beyond-the-arc. The Presidents also made 24-of-28 (85.7 percent) of their free-throw attempts. Conversely, SVC shot just 35.6 percent (26-of-73) from the field, 26.7 percent (8-of-30) from three-point range and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the free-throw line.

McGrath finished her career with a game-high 21 points to go along with nine rebounds and four steals. Collins added 12 points and four assists, while Clinton registered 11 points and eight boards.

All five W&J starters scored in double figures with Dunlap, Chelsea Apke, Alexa Burzese and Kara Seamon scoring 15 points, and Emily Abraham adding 11 points. Dunlap closed out the double-double with 13 boards while adding six blocks.

NOTES: Following the game, McGrath earned her second-straight First-Team All-PAC honor, her third total All-PAC honor of her career...Senior guard Melissa Mansur was named Honorable Mention All-PAC, her first career honor...PAC Player of the Year honors went to Thomas More senior guard Allison Long, while Coach of the Year was awarded to Thomas More second-year head coach Jeff Hans.