After a slow start on day one of the second round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference tournament, the Bearcats went 3-0 on day two, to finish the conference regular season at 11-3 and advance to the championship round.
On day two of the event, held in Lodi, New Jersey, Saint Vincent opened the day with an 85-pin win over host New Jersey City University. Freshman
Mercedes Belch led the team with a 201, a "clean" game with no open frames.
Dani Koehler shot a 194.
Up next was a matchup with Medaille College, a team that came into the match with a perfect conference record of 12-0. The match was tied after three frames and still tied after six frames. The Bearcats took a narrow lead in the 7th. Back-to-back strikes by Belch in frames 7 and 8, and a split conversion by
Jessica Guesman in the 8th helped the Bearcats increase their lead. Going into the 10th frame, SVC held a 30-pin advantage and held on for a 20-pin win, 840-820.
Belch again had the top score with a 185, while Guesman finished with a 180. Koehler shot 178, while
Meghan Christman had a 177 game.
Saint Vincent wrapped up the tournament with an 809-681 victory over Penn State-Altoona. Christman (191) and Guesman (188) had the top scores.
Koehler was the tournament's top scorer with 1,238 pins, an average of 176.8 for seven games. Belch averaged 176.2 for five games during the weekend.
With a 3-0 record on the day, the Bearcats finished the second round of the tournament with a 5-2 mark, following a 6-1 record in the opening round in February in Buffalo. The Bearcats' season record is now 38-12.
DAY ONE RECAP
The Bearcats opened play with a bye, as Hilbert College was unable to make the trip. SVC shot a team score of 863, which would prove to be the team's highest score of the day. Koehler led the way with a 218, while
Abby Kyle shot 170.
Up next was a match against Pitt-Bradford, and the Bearcats fell behind early by more than 50 pins. The team slowly fought back, but fell short by five pins, 751-746. Koehler had a 178, while Guesman finished with a 160.
In the day's third match, the Bearcats lost to Mount Aloysius by more than 200 pins, 937-731. Belch had a 176 to lead Saint Vincent. Finally, the Bearcats ended the day with a 728-621 win over Penn State-Behrend. As a team, the Bearcats suffered through 12 splits in the game. Guesman's 162 was the top score.
