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GREENVILLE, Pa. (Jan. 21) – Four players scored in double figures as the Saint Vincent women's basketball team used a strong second half to propel themselves to a 103-58 victory over Thiel at Beeghly Gymnasium in Greenville, Pa.

After a layup from Taylor Mathers to open the scoring, Thiel answered with the next six points to take a 6-2 lead at the 17:56 mark. Mathers ended the run with two free throws to cut into the Tomcats lead. Thiel added another basket to push its lead to 8-4 with 15:30 to play in the first half.

That is when SVC went on a run offensively to regain the lead. Mathers scored back-to-back baskets. Junior guard Drew Meeker added a jumper to give SVC a 10-8 lead with 14 minutes left in the first half.

Senior guard Jessica Welch then made a layup and junior forward Shalia Williams made two free throws to push the SVC lead to 14-8.

SVC pushed its lead to nine points (19-10) when sophomore guard Susie Ellis drilled home a three-pointer with 10:11 to play in the first half. Thiel finally responded with back-to-back layups before SVC answered back with another big run. A three pointer from Mara Benvenuti capped a 12-0 run to push the SVC advantage to 31-14 with 5:31 to play in the first half.

Thiel slowly worked the deficit back into single digits before SVC closed the half with the final five points. Meeker connected on a three-point field goal before Weems added a pair of free throws to make the halftime score 42-28 in favor of Saint Vincent.

Saint Vincent had a much easier time in the second half, outscoring Thiel by a 61-30 margin to roll to the victory. The Bearcats lead reached 20 points for the first time when Mathers hit a jump shot with 17:33 to play, making the score 53-33 in favor of SVC.

Ellis made her second three-point field goal of the day to push the Bearcats lead to 28 (71-43) at the 10:51 mark. Weems connected on a trey to push the Bearcat advantage to 78-46 with 8:26 to play. The shot gave Saint Vincent a lead of 30 or more for the first time in the game.

Shortly thereafter, SVC emptied the bench as all dressed players played in the contest. The Bearcats lead topped out at 45 when freshman forward Kiara Arnold added a layup with 45 seconds left to play.

Mathers poured in a game-high 23 points and added a team-high seven rebounds. Weems used a strong performance to score a career-high 18 points. Senior guard Ally Schmidt totaled 14 points and five assists, while Benvenuti collected seven steals. SVC forced Thiel into 35 turnovers on the night.

The victory improved Saint Vincent to 14-2 overall and 8-1 in conference play. Meanwhile, Thiel dropped to 3-13 overall and 2-7 in the PAC.

SVC starts the second half of its PAC schedule when they host Bethany on Saturday, Jan. 24. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.