Behind a career-best, 21-point night by sophomore Carlee Kilgus, the Saint Vincent women's basketball team advanced to the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship with a 76-69 victory over Thiel College in the Carey Center.  
 
Thiel took an early 6-2 lead, but a steal and score by Maria Morgan later cut the gap to just one, 6-5. 

After the visitors once again opened a 4-point lead, 11-7, SVC tied the game on four straight points by Kilgus.  A reverse layup by Bri Van Volkenburg put the Bearcats in front, 13-11 with 2:41 left in the first quarter, the team's first lead of the game.
 
After a three by Thiel's Alivia Sidley returned the lead to the visitors, Saint Vincent got four quick points from Paige Montrose, taking a 17-14 advantage with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter.
 
Two free throws by Kilgus and a layup by Van Volkenburg later ran the SVC lead to seven, 21-14, and Saint Vincent ended the first quarter with a 21-15 lead.
 
After Taylor Boring opened the second quarter with a long range shot to increase the lead to nine, Thiel was sparked by five points from Sidley to cut the gap to just four, 24-20.
 
The teams continued to battle back and forth, with four points from Madison Kollar leading SVC, while Sidley continued to score at the other end.  A layup by Sidley at the 5:43 mark made it a two-point game, 30-28 in favor of Saint Vincent.  A Courtney Harriman three with five minutes remaining gave Thiel a 31-30 edge, but Kayla Slovenec slipped past the defense 30 seconds later to put the Bearcats back in front with a layup.
 
Thiel took a 36-34 lead in the closing minute of the half, but Montrose scored with 22 seconds left to tie the game at the break, 36-36.
 
The first part of the third quarter featured fast action as the lead bounced back and forth several times. The Tomcats took a 3-point lead on a jumper by Destiny Johnson (41-38), but scores by Jenna Lafko and Montrose put the Bearcats up by one, 42-41.  After Thiel took a brief lead, a conventional three-point play by Madison Kollar later gave the Bearcats a 46-43 advantage.  

The SVC lead grew to four on a three from the corner by Kayla Slovenec at the 5:14 mark, 49-45.
 
Near the end of the third, a Kilgus kept the SVC lead at four, 56-52, but Sidley scored again before time expired, as Saint Vincent led 56-54 after three quarters.
 
Scores by Kilgus and Slovenec to start the quarter gave the Bearcats their biggest lead of the game, 60-54, and after a pair of free throws by the Tomcats, Kollar hit a jumper in the paint to make the score 62-56.
 
After Thiel cut the margin to three, another score by Kilgus on a fast break made the score 66-61, but Jess Vormelker hit an off-balance three with 4:17 left to make it a two-point game.  Once again, Kilgus drove the lane and scored, but the Tomcats hit a pair of free throws at the 3:10 mark to make it 68-66.
 
Montrose hit a jumper to make it a 4-point game, but Vormelker answered with a three to cut the gap to one. However, Maria Morgan hit a three of her own on the next possession, putting SVC up by four, 73-69 with 1:55 to go.
 
With under a minute to go, Slovenec drew a foul and went to the line, hitting one shot to increase the lead to five.  

After a Thiel time out with 57 seconds remaining, Van Volkenburg came up with a key steal on the inbound pass, and Kilgus later put the game to rest with a late score, as the Bearcats pulled away to a 76-69 victory to advance to the Championship game.

Joining Kilgus in double-figures for the Bearcats were Montrose (14), Kollar (12) and Slovenec (10).  Kollar had a team-high 8 rebounds, while Morgan and Kilgus had six each.  Montrose had 6 steals, and Morgan added four.

Thiel was led by Sidley with 25 points, while Johnson had 13 and Vormelker added 12.

Saint Vincent will face Washington & Jefferson in the title game on Saturday (February 23) at 5:30 in the Carey Center.  The winner will advance to the NCAA National Tournament.