MEADVILLE, PA (Feb. 15)- The Saint Vincent women's basketball team fought hard but could not overcome some offensive struggles in this one, losing 66-54 to Allegheny on Saturday afternoon.

The Bearcats (12-11, 11-7 PAC) had a lot of good moments in this one on both ends of the court, but ultimately Allegheny (16-7, 15-3 PAC) was able to turn the water off on the Saint Vincent offense enough to get a lead and keep it.

Despite the offensive struggles the Bearcats still had some standout performances. Danielle Pontius led the team in scoring with 13 points and was a leader for most of their good offensive stretches. Camdon Bashor held it down inside with a 10 point-10 rebound double-double with two blocks and a steal.

After both teams got off to a slow start on offense the Bearcats were able to catch fire. They went on a 9-0 run in just over two minutes to push their lead out to 13-4 with about three minutes to play in the quarter. The offense just felt easy over this stretch with the Bearcats converting on the open looks they created.

Allegheny was able to get their offense to click at the end of the quarter thanks to some nice passing, cutting the Saint Vincent lead to 18-13 heading into the second quarter. Despite both teams shooting under 40% from the field in the quarter thanks to some early struggles, both offenses looked good in process.

The second quarter started with the same flow. Both teams missed some looks but overall played clean on offense. The Bearcats were able to slightly extend their lead to 24-17 over the first three minutes of the quarter.

From there, the Bearcats offense went ice cold. They shot just 1-8 with four turnovers over the final seven minutes of the half. Allegheny turned up the pressure on defense and the Bearcats struggled. Allegheny's offense stayed hot, led by Ava Kobus' 8 points during this stretch they went on a 13-2 run to take the lead and be up 30-26 at halftime.

Saint Vincent scored just eight points on 29 from the field and they did not even attempt a three pointer or free throw. The scoring troubles, plus four turnovers, gave Allegheny many easy transition opportunities and made it almost impossible for the Bearcats to fight back defensively.

The third quarter started a lot like the first, with both teams ice cold, going scoreless over the first two minutes. From their until the midway point in the quarter both teams found some success, trading buckets back-and-forth. With about five minutes to play in the quarter Allegheny had increased their lead to 40-35.

Unfortunately once again, the Bearcats offense disappeared. They finished the final five minutes of the quarter shooting 1-8 from the field with two turnovers. The scoring problems compounded with Allegheny's ability to get out and run on misses and turnovers and soon the Bearcats found themselves down double digits. Allegheny took a 53-38 lead into the 4th quarter.

Despite quickly cutting the lead to within 10 to start the fourth quarter and holding Allegheny to 5-12 shooting, the Bearcats offense remained too inconsistent to close the gap. They shot 6-16 in the quarter. They had opportunities to make the final run they needed but ultimately some offensive dry spells and some clutch Allegheny buckets killed those chances.

Despite many moments in the first half where the offense looked well put together, it was a struggle on that end for the Bearcats. They shot 32% from the field, had just eight assists, and turned it over 11 times.

The Bearcats will look to bounce back this Wednesday, February 19 in a home matchup against Bethany. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Robert S. Carey Center.