LATROBE, Pa. (Nov. 19) – The Saint Vincent women's basketball team was on the wrong end of a defensive battle with Westminster College, falling to their Presidents' Athletic Conference rivals by a 59-42 score in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.
Saint Vincent (2-2, 1-1 PAC) clawed back from a 10-point halftime deficit to pull to within five, 39-34, at the end of the third quarter, but Westminster (4-0, 2-0 PAC) out-scored the hosts 20-8 over the final 10 minutes to pull away for the victory.
The Bearcats were hampered by a cold shooting performance, going just 32 percent from the field, including a 2-for-12 mark from behind the three-point arc. Westminster also owned a sizable margin on the glass, out-rebounding SVC 43-28. Saint Vincent won the turnover battle by a 17-12 margin and limited the Titans to just 40 percent (25-for-52) from the field, but the Titans connected on seven three-pointers and went 10-for-15 from the foul line, compared to just two SVC treys and a 4-for-9 performance at the stripe by the Bearcats.
Madison Weber paced the Bearcats with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Ella Marconi scored 10 points and Emily Thompson nine.
The back-and-forth first quarter featured four ties and six lead changes, as both teams struggled to find a rhythm on offense. The Bearcats shot just 5-for-16 from the field and the Titans 4-for-13, with SVC holding a 12-10 lead at the close of the frame. Thompson scored SVC's first four points, while Cavacini also netted a pair of buckets in the quarter.
The teams continued to trade baskets in the opening stages of the second quarter before the Titans put together a lengthy 11-0 run that spanned five minutes of game action to open up a 25-15 lead with a minute left. A mid-range jumper from Marconi with 14 seconds left would temporarily halt the Westminster surge, but the Titans' Camden Hergenrother beat the halftime buzzer with a jumper to open up a 27-17 halftime lead.
The Bearcats looked to chip away at the deficit following the intermission opening the third quarter on an 8-2 run, with baskets from Weber, Thompson, Cavacini and Weber closing the deficit to 29-25 with 7:07 left in the frame. The Titans countered with a 10-5 run to open up a 39-30 margin, before Weber and Bender each scored over the final 1:45 to close the gap to 39-34 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Weber scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter to pull SVC to within three, but the visitors charged back with eight unanswered points over the next 90 seconds, capped off with a Natalie Murrio three-pointer, to open up a 45-36 lead with 7:04 to go. Thompson hit her second trey of the game to cut the gap to 47-39 with 6:10 left, but the Bearcats would again go cold down the stretch, managing just one more field goal the rest of the way. The Titans would then pull away, closing out the game's scoring with three three-pointers in a two-minute span to close out the win.
Fueled by five three-pointers, Hergenrother tallied a game-high 23 points for Westminster, while teammate Lindsay Bell went for 16 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. She was one of four Titans to grab six or more caroms.
Alana Winkler led Saint Vincent with five assists, while Cavacini grabbed six rebounds and dished three helpers.
The Bearcats will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 22, when they play their first road contest of the season, a 5 p.m. meeting at PAC rival Grove City College.
