WASHINGTON, Pa. (Dec. 3) – The Saint Vincent women's basketball team was unable to recover from a sluggish first half in its 66-51 road loss to Presidents' Athletic Conference rival Washington & Jefferson.

Saint Vincent (4-2, 3-2) shot just 33 percent (8-for-24) from the field in the first half as W&J (7-1, 5-0 PAC) staked a 37-17 halftime lead. The Bearcats outscored the Presidents over the final 20 minutes, but were unable to recover from the early deficit.  

Senior forward Madison Weber led three Saint Vincent scorers in double figures with 14 points, shooting 7-for-9 from the field. Rookie guard Reese Gadsby came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points, going 3-for-4 from long range, while senior center Ella Marconi recorded a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Weber and Marconi each added two blocks and two steals apiece and Gadsby three assists, while junior point guard Emily Cavacini finished with eight points and recorded team-highs of seven assists and three steals.

The Bearcats bounced back from the sluggish first half to shoot 45 percent (13-for-29) over the final 20 minutes, including a 6-for-12 mark from behind the arc, as Gadsby connected on all three of her treys in the second half, while Cavacini sunk a pair of threes.

For the game, the Bearcats shot 40 percent (21-for-53) compared to W&J's 38 percent mark (24-for-62), but the Presidents went 11-for-13 from the foul line compared to a 3-for-9 effort from the Bearcats. The Presidents also took advantage of 13 offensive rebounds to score 13 second-chance points, while they scored 23 points off of 19 SVC turnovers.

W&J was led on the scoresheet by the duo of Bryn Bezjak and Adalynn Cherry, who each scored 15 points.

The Bearcats will be back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 7, when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on PAC foe Chatham University beginning at 7 p.m.