BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (Feb. 16) – In a tale of two halves, the Saint Vincent women's basketball team overcame a poor opening 20 minutes to earn a 65-59 comeback win over Geneva in a pivotal Presidents' Athletic Conference battle.
 
Trailing by 12 points two minutes into the third quarter, the Bearcats (8-12, 7-9 PAC) closed the frame on a 16-5 run to pull to within one at the start of the third quarter, before out-scoring the Golden Tornadoes (8-13, 7-10 PAC) 20-13 over the final 10 minutes to complete the comeback victory.
 
The win propels the Bearcats past the Golden Tornadoes into sixth place in the PAC standings with one game remaining in the regular season. The top six teams earn an automatic berth into next week's PAC Championship Tournament quarterfinals, while teams 7 through 10 will take part in play-in games to determine the final two entrants into the conference quarters.
 
Emily Cavacini scored 16 points and Ella Marconi 11 to pace Saint Vincent, while both players also tied for the team high with eight rebounds apiece. Marconi added a game-high four blocks, while Taylor Geer and Emily Thompson each chipped in with identical lines of seven points and seven rebounds.
 
Through the Bearcats struggled offensively, shooting just 36 percent and committing 23 turnovers, they out-rebounded the Golden Tornadoes 59-51 and limited the GTs to just 26 percent from the field, including a 3-for-31 showing from behind the arc.
 
The teams traded the lead throughout the opening stages of the first quarter, with the Bearcats taking a 10-9 advantage with four minutes left on a Madison Weber bucket. Geneva, however, closed the first quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 19-14 lead into the second frame.
 
Momentum briefly swung the way of the Bearcats to open the second quarter, as a pair of jumpers from Cavacini sandwiched a Marconi bucket to put the visitors back in front, 20-19, with 8:06 left in the half. SVC maintained the lead for the next several minutes, as another jumper from Marconi upped the advantage to 25-21 with 5:05 left. The tide then promptly turned, with Geneva taking advantage of three SVC turnovers to rattle off 12 unanswered points in a 30-second span to pull ahead 33-25 with 3:05 left, before taking a 35-27 lead into the break.
 
The Golden Tornadoes promptly increased the lead to 41-29 two minutes into the third, before the Bearcats began the comeback. Cavacini and Marconi made baskets 40 seconds apart to cut the gap to 41-34, before Thompson scored five points in a 25-second span to pull to within four, 43-39, with 4:25 left. After Geneva briefly gained a five-point lead, 46-41, Geer and Weber scored in the final minute of the quarter to cut the gap to one entering the fourth quarter.
 
SVC's Lizzie Bender gave the lead back to her team 10 seconds into the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws, and the Bearcats would go on to hold the Golden Tornadoes off the board for the next three minutes, forcing three turnovers over the span. Geneva would rally to tie the game at 51 with 6:42 left, but the Bearcats then pulled away for good.
 
A pair of free throws from Alana Winkler keyed an 8-1 run that put the Bearcats up 57-51 with 5:28 to go, before Marconi's layup with 4:36 left increased the advantage to 59-52. The hosts cut it to four with 3:09 left, but SVC's lead would go back to seven on a Geer basket with 90 seconds to go. The Bearcats then iced the game with three free throws over the final 58 seconds to seal the comeback victory.
 
Over the second half, the Bearcats outscored the Golden Tornadoes 38-24, holding Geneva to just 16 percent from the field (6-for-38) and 1-for-14 from long range.  
 
Geneva was led by a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double from Mia San Nicolas, while teammate Cyntha Stewart scored 14 points.
 
Saint Vincent will now wrap up the 2021-22 regular season on Saturday, Feb. 19, traveling to northwestern Pennsylvania to take on PAC foe Thiel College beginning at 1 p.m.