DAYTONA BEACH (Dec. 20)- The Saint Vincent women's basketball team was defeated 64-59 by Bethel in overtime in their first of two games in Daytona Beach, Florida.
 
The Bearcats attempted two late comebacks, including a 16-6 run late in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
 
Saint Vincent was led by Emily Cavacini, scoring a team-high 15 points, while also grabbing five rebounds. Emily Thompson finished in double figures as well with ten points, while grabbing three rebounds.
 
Lizzie Bender finished with eight points and four boards, while Madison Weber scored seven points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Coming off the bench, Ashley Lippold and Jillian Mannarino both scored six points.
 
Camdon Bashor, scored three points, while Reese Gadsby and Alana Winkler added two point apiece to round out the Bearcats scoring.
 
It was a quick start for the Bearcats as they found themselves up 8-1 right out of the gates. It was a balanced scoring attack early as Thompson, Bender, Cavacini, and Winkler scored the first eight points for SVC.
 
After a Bethel timeout, the Royals answered the opening run by the Bearcats, going on an 8-0 run over the next several minutes to take a 9-8 lead, but their lead was short lived as Bashor knocked down a jumper, followed by a layup from Thompson to give Saint Vincent a 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, it was the Royals who came out of the gates strong, opening the quarter on a 13-2 run to take an eight-point lead at 22-14 with six and a half minutes to go in the half.
 
Over the remaining six minutes of the opening half, The Bearcats outscored Bethel 7-4, fueled by a 7-1 run with Bender scoring four points and Lippold coming off the bench to score three to help the Bearcats cut the lead to five (26-21) at the half.
 
Saint Vincent held the Royals to shoot just 30 percent (10-33) in the half. Saint Vincent also forced seven turnovers in the half, but the turned the ball over 12 times on their offensive end. In the half, SVC shot 10-26 from the field.
 
It was evenly played in the third quarter. Both the Bearcats and Royals scored 11 points in the quarter. Saint Vincent tied it up at 32-32 but a 5-0 Bethel run to close the quarter allowed to Royals to still hold a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Early on in the fourth quarter it was all Bethel. The Royals opened up to a ten-point lead, their largest of the game at 46-36 with 3:50 remaining. The Bearcats wouldn't go down without a fight. Over the next three and a half minutes, SVC led a 16-6 run to tie the game up and send it to overtime.
 
With the Bearcats trailing 52-46 in the quarter, Cavacini took the ball into her own hands, scoring the next six points, the first coming on a three-point play and then caught a pass off of a steal by Thompson and knocked in a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining.
 
The Royals had three opportunities to put in a game-winning basket on the opposite end of the court but the Saint Vincent defense held strong to get the stop and force overtime.
 
In Overtime, Bethel took the opening advantage and that was all they needed. The Royals scored ten of the first 12 points in OT to take a commanding 62-54 lead.
 
Once again, the Bearcats attempted to comeback, cutting the lead to just three points at 62-59. Mannarino, Cavacini, and Lippold all scored on the late run, but Bethel closed it out at the foul line to secure the 64-59 win in Daytona Beach.
 
Defensively, Saint Vincent held Bethel to just 26.8 percent shooting from the field, while also forcing 17 turnovers as well. SVC scored 17 points off of those turnovers and scored 28 in the paint as well.
 
Bethel was led by Elly Schmitz who recorded a double-double, scoring 19 points, while grabbing 11 rebounds. Colette Duininck and Emily Erickson were in double figures for the Royals as well, scoring 12 and ten points respectively.
 
The Bearcats will play their final game in Daytona Beach tomorrow, Thursday, December 21, taking on Bates at 3 p.m. in Ocean Center.