Sophomore Babette Sanmartin scored a career best 16 points as Saint Vincent held on for a 57-55 victory over Stevenson University in the consolation game of the Chuck Resler Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by the University of Rochester.

For Bearcat coach Jimmy Petruska, it was his 100th career coaching victory.

Stevenson had an opportunity to tie the game in the closing seconds, after a Hannah Carroll free throw gave SU the ball with six seconds.  The team took a timeout to advance the ball to mid-court, but was unable to get off a shot, sealing the Bearcat win.

The game was close in the early going, with the Mustangs taking a 13-8 advantage near the midpoint of the first quarter. SVC then fought back, taking a 17-15 lead on a Jasmine Weems three-pointer at the 3:10 mark, but by the end of the first quarter, the score was tied, 19-19.

Stevenson opened the biggest lead of the second quarter, a four-point margin (28-24) with 3:02 left, but this time it was SVC's turn to come back and tie the game at the halftime break, 30-30, on a three by Mara Benvenuti with just :02 on the clock.

The Bearcats came out of the locker room sharp, outscoring their opponents 8-2 in the first 2:30 of the third, with Sanmartin contributing four points to the run.  After a Stevenson score temporarily halted the run, Saint Vincent then added five more points on a layup by Benvenuti and a three by Susie Ellis, making the score 43-34, the largest lead of the day for either team.

A pair of Mustang free throws at the 2:28 mark of the third brought the lead down to just three (45-42), but SVC closed the quarter with a jumper by Sanmartin and a trey by Weems to make it 50-42 after three quarters of play.

Baskets by Sanmartin and Benvenuti ran the lead to 12 early in the third (54-42), but with 3:30 left, the Mustangs began to chip away at the lead, scoring 9 straight points to make it a one-point game, 56-55 after a Stephanie Martinez layup with 1:01 to go.

SVC failed to score on its next possession, but Benvenuti came up with a steal with just 23 ticks left, forcing the Mustangs to foul Carroll with just six seconds on the clock, leading to the Bearcat win.

Sanmartin had 5 rebounds and 2 steals to go along with her career-high point total.  Ellis, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, chipped in 14 points and 6 boards.  Weems had 10 points and two steals, while Benvenuti had 9 points, a team-high 7 rebounds, and three steals.  Katie Ryan had 5 rebounds in 10 minutes of play.

Sara Tebert had a game-high 20 points for the Mustangs.

With the win, Saint Vincent improves to 2-1, and will host John Carroll University this Tuesday (November 24) in the Carey Center.  Stevenson drops to 0-2 on the year.