The Saint Vincent College women's basketball team had their comeback effort fall short against nationally ranked University of Scranton in the D3Hoops.com Classic by a score of 63-57.
 
The Royals opened up the contest by scoring the game's first 10 points before a Paige Montrose layup at the 5:39 mark put the Bearcats on the board. After another three pointer by Scranton, Taylor Boring and Madison Kollar combined for six straight Bearcat points to bring the score to 13-8 with two and a half to play in the first. Scranton ended the quarter scoring on back to back possessions giving them a double-digit lead at the break, 18-8.
 
The second period saw much of the same, as the Royals opened up by scoring the first seven points and holding SVC scoreless in the first three minutes of play. Coming out of a Bearcat timeout, Kayla Slovenec found Jenna Lafko open on the wing for an uncontested three bringing the score to 25-11. Saint Vincent parlayed the momentum of Lafko's shot into a 12-2 run over the next four minutes of play to draw the score within single digits, 27-20.  Scranton led by a score of 31-22 at the end of the first half.
 
Kollar got Saint Vincent on the board first in the second half knocking down a three off a Montrose assist just 12 seconds into the frame. From there the quarter belonged to the Royals. A 15-4 run over the next seven minutes extended the Scranton lead to 17 with 3:15 left in the quarter. The Bearcats defense stepped up to close out the quarter only allowing one more basket. However, the offense could only score one of their own, a Slovenec layup, making the score 48-31 heading into the final period.
 
Lafko started the scoring for Saint Vincent in the fourth by corralling a rebound and going coast-to-coast finishing with a finger roll lay in at the 9:11 mark. The Bearcats continued to battle as the frontcourt duo of Kollar and Montrose combined for 11 points over the next three and a half minutes to cut the deficit to 11, 55-44.

After a Bearcat timeout the Royals hit a three, but SVC responded in kind with an eight-point run capped off by a Kollar drop step layup making it 58-52 with 2:26 left in regulation. A Scranton three with just over a minute to play was answered by a Lafko trifecta off a steal by Kollar to bring the Bearcats within six with 46 seconds to play. A pair of Royals free throws with 16 seconds left put an end to Saint Vincent's comeback.
 
Madison Kollar led all scorers with 24 points while Montrose and Lafko joined her in double digits, scoring 13 and 10, respectively. Kollar led the Bearcats on the glass, collecting seven rebounds, followed by Montrose and Taylor Boring with five apiece. Lafko dished out six assists and came away with three steals to round out the stat sheet. 
 
The loss concludes the Bearcats trip to Las Vegas for the D3Hoops.com Classic and puts their overall record at 6-5 on the year. Saint Vincent will return to action on Monday, January 6 at 5:30 p.m. when the team travels to Greenville, Pennsylvania for a Presidents' Athletic Conference game against Thiel College.