MEADVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 14)- The Saint Vincent women's basketball team secured a 69-63 road win at Allegheny to keep their playoff hopes alive.
 
The Bearcats led by two at the half, before outscoring Allegheny 39-35 in the second half to secure the huge win on the road.
 
Emily Thompson led the way for the Bearcats with 19 points. Madison Weber added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds as well, while Camdon Bashor scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds.
 
Lizzie Bender added eight points and Emily Cavacini scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds as well. Reese Gadsby, Alana Winkler, and Ashley Lippold rounding out the Saint Vincent scoring with three, two, and one point respectively.
 
It was a fast start for the Bearcats in the first quarter. Saint Vincent forced two Allegheny turnovers and a missed field goal on their first three possessions, resulting in three Bearcat field goals on the opposite end. Bender scored all three of the Bearcats field goals on those possessions, giving Saint Vincent a 6-0 lead less than a minute and a half into the game.
 
Allegheny scored the next six points to tie the game, but the game of runs early on continued as the Bearcats answered scoring six more of their own. Winkler knocked down a jumper, followed by a pair of Thompson free throws and jumper from Bashor to give SVC a 12-6 lead with 4:08 to go in the quarter.
 
The Gators and Bearcats played fairly even for the rest of the opening quarter as Allegheny slightly outscored the Bearcats 7-6 over the remaining four minutes of the quarter, including a late three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the SVC lead to 18-13 heading into the second quarter.
 
 The Bearcats struggled offensively in the early portions of the second quarter. Allegheny limited the Bearcats to just six total points over the first five and a half minutes of the quarter as they tied the game at 24-24.
 
Saint Vincent started to pick it up offensively over the next few minutes as the Bearcats got four from Thompson and two from Cavacini in the final five minutes to take a 30-26 lead. Just as they did in the first quarter, the Gators got another late basket in the second quarter, cutting the SVC lead to 30-28 at the half.
 
The Bearcats defense held the Gators to shoot just 13-31 (42 percent), while also forcing 12 Gator turnovers in the first half as well. Allegheny outrebounded Saint Vincent 19-12 in the opening half.
 
It was evenly played over the first five minutes of the second half as well. The Bearcats and Gators continued right where they left off at the end of the first half, trading baskets as Saint Vincent held a one-point, 38-37 lead with 4:28 to go in the quarter.
 
Allegheny controlled the tempo over the final four and a half minutes of the half as the Gators outscored SVC 11-7 to take a 48-45 lead heading into the final quarter. Allegheny outscored Saint Vincent 20-15 in the third quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, Saint Vincent sprinted out of the gates on the offensive end. Over the first three minutes of play, the Bearcats outscored the Gators 9-2 to take a four-point, 54-50 lead. Thompson scored seven of the Bearcats first nine, including opening the quarter with a three ball to tie the game.
 
Over the next couple of minutes, Saint Vincent continued to control the pace of the play. The Bearcats opened their lead up to seven after another pair of free throws from Thompson and layup from Cavacini, giving SVC a 61-54 lead with 4:30 to go.
 
Allegheny wouldn't go down without a fight as the Gators went on a 9-2 run of their own to cut the Bearcats lead to 63-60 with a little over two minutes to go.
 
Saint Vincent closed the game out after a couple of defensive stops and good free throw shooting. Cavacini split a pair of free throws, Weber made three of four, Bashor split a pair, and Lippold split a pair as well at the stripe in the final minute for Saint Vincent to secure the 69-63 win.
 
SVC outscored Allegheny 24-15 in the fourth quarter.
 
The Bearcat defense remained strong over the entirety of the game, limiting Allegheny to shoot just 40 percent over the course of the game. Saint Vincent outscored the Gators in Bench points by an 18-7 margin as well. Offensively, the Bearcats shot an efficient 50 percent (25-50).
 
The Bearcats will conclude the regular season on the road at Franciscan on Saturday, February 17. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Steubenville, Ohio on Saturday.