BEAVER FALLS, PA (Feb. 1)- The Saint Vincent women's basketball team got some late game heroics to pull out a thrilling 76-73 win on the road against Geneva on Saturday afternoon.
In a game with eight ties and 14 lead changes the Bearcats (11-8, 10-4 PAC) were able to play just a slightly cleaner game. This mixed with some brilliant individual performances and plays were enough to out last Geneva (9-10, 6-8 PAC) in a game where the biggest lead at any point was just seven points.
Emily Thompson led the way for the Bearcats with 20 points on 8-17 shooting and 5 rebounds. She did a lot to stabilize a struggling Saint Vincent offense in the first half. Camdon Bashor added 16 points on 5-9 shooting from the field with four blocks in what was a very impressive two-way performance. Brooke Evans stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points on 4-7 shooting, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals including the game winning assist and block in the closing seconds.
The Bearcats were able to jump out a lead early in this one ahead by a score of 17-13 after the first quarter. After getting off to a rocky start Saint Vincent was able to rattle off a 12-0 run to take and build a lead. They forced three turnovers over this span and made a huge effort to get to the rim, shooing 4-6 from the field over that span and drawing four free throws.
The Geneva offense got going in the second quarter. They scored 22 points on 53% shooting from the field in the period to take a 35-32 lead into halftime.Â
The Bearcats shot just 35% from the field in the first half and only made two threes. They were able to keep the game close thanks to some stellar spurts of defense to turn the water off on Geneva, taking advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line, and the stellar play of Thompson who scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting from the field in the first half.
After a back-and-forth opening to the third quarter Geneva was able to take a bit of a lead thanks to a 7-2 run with about four minutes left in the quarter.
The Bearcats were able to respond with an 11-2 run of their own to close out the third quarter with a 55-50 lead. Thanks to some great fast break opportunities off of Geneva turnovers and misses the Bearcats were able to finally find some life on offense, shooting 47% from
the field and continuing to convert at the line going 9-12. The defense was the biggest factor in the quarter holding Geneva to just 15 points on 25% shooting from the field.
Geneva opened the first six minutes of the half on a 16-7 run to take a 66-62 lead with about four minutes to play. The Bearcats' offense once again went cold, shooting just 3-10 from the field. While they were still drawing free throws, they stopped converting, shooting just 1-5 allowing Geneva to pull off this run.
From here the game settled into a back and forth rhythm with a Bashor layup tying the game at 67-67 with just under three minutes to play. This was followed up by two more Saint Vincent buckets from Evans and Reese Gadsby to take a two possession lead up 71-67 with just under two minutes to play.
Geneva would not go away quietly though, hitting a huge and-one layup to cut the lead to just 71-70. After some Saint Vincent misses at the rim, Geneva knocked down three free throws to take a 73-71 lead with just 31 seconds left.
After a timeout the Bearcats came out with a beautiful set that resulted in Evans firing a spectacular pass inside to Makenna Maier who got the bucket to go inside plus the foul. After hitting the free throw the Bearcats led 74-73 with just eight seconds to play.
Evans again showed her impact this time defensively, after initially being beaten off the dribble to block a Geneva rim attempt, secure the rebound, and knock down both free throws to put the Bearcats up 76-73 with less than one second on the clock. This was not enough time for Geneva to find a shot as the Bearcats pulled this one out late thanks to some late game heroics.
The Bearcats will look to push the win streak to four games back home against Westminster on Wednesday, February 5. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center.
