BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (Feb. 18) – The Saint Vincent women's basketball team closed out the 2022-23 regular season in fine fashion, earning an 82-60 road win over Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Geneva College.
 
With the win, the Bearcats end the regular season with a 19-4 overall record and 17-3 PAC mark and hold the No. 2 seed in the upcoming PAC Championship Tournament. Geneva falls to 7-18 overall and 6-14 in conference play. The win is Saint Vincent's 14th straight over their longtime rival.
 
As has been the case throughout the season, the Bearcats displayed a well-rounded offense, with five players scoring at least nine points. Madison Weber led the way, scoring 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting, while Emily Cavacini scored 12, Emily Thompson 10, and Alana Winkler and Reese Gadsby nine points apiece. In all, 11 different players found the scoresheet for Saint Vincent.
 
The Bearcats also put forth a monster effort on the boards, outrebounding the Golden Tornadoes 66-37, with senior center Ella Marconi grabbing 19 caroms, one shy of tying an 11-year-old SVC single-game record. Winkler added 10 rebounds, while Weber grabbed nine.
 
The SVC defense also had another strong afternoon, limiting the Golden Tornadoes to just 29 percent from the field (23-79), including an 8-for-43 mark from behind the arc.
 
Geneva owned the better of the play in the early going, jumping out to a 10-3 lead midway through the first quarter. Following a timeout, Saint Vincent began to chip away at the deficit. Buckets by Thompson and Marconi pulled the Bearcats to within three, 10-7. The hosts would up their advantage to 13-9 with just over two minutes left, but SVC closed out the opening quarter on an 8-2 run, with four points from Weber and two apiece from Anna Betz and Thompson, to take a 17-15 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
 
The teams traded baskets in the early stages of the second quarter, before a Marconi layup and Gadsby three-pointer keyed an 11-4 run that gave SVC a 36-29 advantage with 2:31 left in the half. The Bearcat lead eventually would grow to 40-31 at the half after Diana Mosten beat the buzzer with a jumper to send SVC into the locker room with the 9-point lead.
 
Saint Vincent's lead hovered between seven and 10 points over the early portion of the third quarter, before the Bearcats closed the frame with a flurry. After a three-pointer from Cavacini pushed SVC ahead 51-42 with 3:51 left, Lizzie Bender hit two buckets in a 40-second span to open up a 56-42 lead with 2:29 to go. Gadsby would then score twice in the closing minute of the quarter to cap off a 13-4 run and send SVC into the fourth with a 64-46 lead.
 
Makenna Maier opened the fourth quarter by cashing in on a conventional three-point play to up the lead to 67-46, before a Gadsby layup followed by a Mosten three gave SVC its largest margin of the day, 72-48, with 7:52 left in regulation. The Golden Tornaodes would hit a pair of threes over the next two minutes to cut the gap to 17 points, but baskets from Cavacini and Weber would open the SVC advantage back over 20 points, 79-58, and the Bearcats would cruise down the stretch.
 
Mia San Nicolas led Geneva with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Isabella Roth scored eight, connecting on two three-pointers.
 
Saint Vincent will now set its sights on the PAC Championship Tournament. The No. 2 seeded Bearcats will open the tourney with a first round matchup against No. 7 Bethany College on Monday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. in the Carey Center.