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LATROBE (Mar. 5) - The Saint Vincent women's basketball team advanced to the ECAC Division III South semifinals with a 66-60 win over Stevenson (Md.) in the quarterfinals at the Carey Center.

With the win, the Bearcats improve to 19-9 on the year advance to the ECAC Semifinals for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign when they won the tournament, also their last appearance. Saint Vincent will play second-seeded McDaniel (Md.) at Catholic (D.C.) on Saturday, Mar. 8 at a time still to be determined. Stevenson finishes their season with a 14-14 record.

Jasmine Weems gave Saint Vincent an early 3-2 lead with a three-pointer to start the scoring and a jumper in the paint by Ally Schmidt 19 seconds later pushed the lead to 5-2 at the 18:48-mark. The Mustangs responded with four-straight points to re-take the lead, 2:33 into the game.

SVC held a one-point lead, 14-13, following a Schmidt layup at 12:08, but a 7-1 spurt by the guests gave them a five-point lead, 20-15, at 10:28, forcing a time out by head coach Jimmy Petruska.

Out of the time out Jillian Kegg recorded a three-point play, 20-18. Later in the half, a free throw by Hannah Carroll made the margin one point, 24-23, with 6:46 to go in the period, but a 12-2 run by the Mustangs that spanned 3:31, opened up an 11-point lead, 36-25.

SVC responded with a 9-0 run to close the half, started by a Drew Meeker three-pointer with 2:42 on the clock. A pair of layups by Mara Benvenuti and a layup by Schmidt closed the run as SVC trailed, 36-34, at halftime.

Two buckets by Stevenson in the first 2:20 of the second half pushed the margin back to six points, but a layup by Schmidt and a jumper by Jessica Welch brought the game back within two points, 40-38, with 14:44 remaining. A pair of Benvenuti free throws with 13:39 remaining started a 10-0 run that sent SVC ahead by six points, 48-42. Meeker knocked down another triple and a layup during the run and Brianna Zajac recorded three points to fuel the rally.

Stevenson would tie the game, 48-48, with 8:57 to go, but never re-took the lead as Elle Collins scored the game's next five points to put SVC ahead for good. The Mustangs tried to recover, but Saint Vincent made six free throws in the final 51 seconds to seal the victory and advance, 66-60.

For the game, SVC shot just 28.9 percent (22-of-76) from the field and only 15.4 percent (4-of-26) from beyond-the-arc. Stevenson finished 26-of-71 (36.6 percent) from the floor and managed just one three-pointer in 13 attempts (7.7 percent). After holding a 20-rebound advantage at one point, the Mustangs finished with just eight more, 58-49. SVC forced 23 Stevenson turnovers while making just 12.

Benvenuti scored a game-high 14 points and added nine rebounds, six steals and three assists while playing 33 minutes, one shy of her season high. Collins totaled 13 points and six rebounds and Schmidt played a stellar all-around game with 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Meeker was also in double figures with 10 points and Zajac added seven rebounds and five blocks in addition to her three points.