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WASHINGTON, Pa. (Jan. 29) – The Saint Vincent women's basketball team solidified their position in second place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference with a 92-82 win at Washington & Jefferson.
 
With the win, the Bearcats improve to 13-5 on the season and 10-1 in the conference. W&J drops to 7-4 (12-6 overall) in the league and now rests in fourth place thanks to Waynesburg's win over Grove City.
 
The two teams played a close opening eight minutes as SVC held a one-point lead, 21-20, with 11:44 to go in the first half. Junior guard Elle Collins recorded three three-pointers in the span to help SVC to the lead.
 
From there, the Bearcats used a 6-0 run to extend the lead to seven, 27-20, with 9:50 remaining. Following a Presidents' bucket, SVC embarked on a 13-0 run as part of an 18-2 run that spanned nearly six minutes and took the Bearcat lead to 21 points, 45-24, with 3:34 to go. Senior forward Taylor Mathers scored six points during the run and freshman Mara Benvenuti added five points.
 
SVC took a 51-32 lead into the locker room, tying the second-highest scoring half this season.
 
W&J struck for the first five points of the second half, but a Collins triple at 18:44 culled the rally, 54-37. The Presidents cut the margin to 13, 63-50, with 11:44, but a trio of Mathers points pushed the lead back to 16 points, 66-50, with 10:06 remaining.
 
A pair of layups within 20 second by junior Ally Schmidt once again put the lead back to 16 points after W&J made a run, this time 70-54, with 8:37 left on the clock.
 
W&J cut the lead to nine points, 81-72, with 2:09 to go, but Collins answered with her sixth triple of the game and Mathers recorded an and one followed by a Jess Welch free throw and SVC led by 15, 88-73, with 1:18 remaining.
 
For the game, SVC shot 53.7 percent (36-of-67) from the floor, including 60 percent (21-of-35) in the first half, while W&J shot just 39.5 percent (30-of-76). SVC also held a 45-39 advantage on rebounds.
 
Collins recorded a game-high 25 points, one off her career high. Mathers posted a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds, while adding four assists and two blocks. Schmidt was the only other Bearcat in double figures with 10 points, but Benvenuti added nine points and eight rebounds and freshman Jasmine Weems contributed nine points.
 
SVC returns to the Carey Center on Saturday, Feb. 1, hosting Westminster at 4 p.m. in PAC action.