STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Feb. 17) – The Saint Vincent College women's basketball team rode a fast start to a 58-44 road victory over Franciscan, clinching a berth in the upcoming Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament.
Three players scored in double figures for the Bearcats (13-12, 11-9 PAC), who limited the host Barons (4-21, 2-18) to just 22 percent shooting from the field.
Madison Weber recorded a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double to lead SVC, as she went 6-10 from the field and a perfect 4-4 from the foul line.
Emily Cavacini added 15 points and eight boards, while
Emily Thompson scored 10 points.
Jillian Mannarino came off the bench to score six points, on two three-pointers.
Along with its strong field goal percent defense, Saint Vincent outrebounded Franciscan by a wide 54-38 margin, with
Camdon Bashor grabbing eight boards off the bench.
It was all Saint Vincent in the first quarter, as the Bearcats jumped out to a 17-1 lead after the opening 10 minutes. The Bearcats were 7-12 from the field in the opening frame, while Weber scored eight of her team's points over the frame. Conversely, the Barons failed to connect on a field goal on 16 attempts.
Franciscan awoke to score nine unanswered points over the first three minutes of the second quarter to cut the gap to 17-9. Saint Vincent scored four straight on buckets from Thompson and Weber to push the lead back into double figures, 21-9, at the midpoint of the quarter, but the Barons chipped away at the gap, eventually pulling to within 27-20 at the intermission.
Thompson hit a corner three on SVC's first possession of the second half, and it kickstarted an 11-4 run, which included five points from Cavacini and another Thompson trey, to open up a 38-24 lead with just over four minutes left in the quarter.
The Bearcats continued to pull away in the early stages of the fourth quarter, with a Mannarino three pushing the lead to 45-31, before a pair of Cavacini free throws made it 49-31 with 7:02 left to play. The 18-point lead was more than enough for the Bearcats, as the margin wouldn't fall below 13 points over the game's final six minutes.
The victory locked up the No. 6 seed in the upcoming PAC Tournament for the defending conference-champion Bearcats. They will travel to West Virginia for a 7 p.m. quarterfinal matchup against No. 3 seed Bethany College on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The winner will move on to the PAC semifinals two nights later at No. 2 Chatham University.
