LATROBE, PA (Feb. 5)- The Saint Vincent women's basketball team won their fourth straight game with a 63-56 win over Westminster on Wednesday evening.
The Bearcats (12-8, 11-4 PAC) used stout defense and some well-timed runs in the second half to build a lead against Westminster (3-17, 3-12 PAC) that they never looked back from on their way to a come from behind victory.
Reese Gadsby led the way for the Bearcats with 16 points and 7 boards. Her scoring and aggressiveness early in this one kept Saint Vincent alive till they could put together some runs. Emily Thompson was a big part of those runs scoring 18 points on 5-10 shooting from the field and 3-4 from deep.
The game started slow for both teams, with lots of offensive struggles to go around. For about the first six minutes of the game both teams combined to shoot just 4-19 from the field with four turnovers.
In the final three minutes of the quarter Westminster was able to find life going on a quick 10-1 run to push the lead to 17-6 at the end of the quarter. Saint Vincent as a team shot just 2-15 from the field in that opening quarter.
The offensive struggles continued into the second quarter as there was just one score total over the first three minutes. Gadsby was able to get to the line to finally put the Bearcats on the board in the quarter, but from there Westminster would find some juice on offense again. They were able to push the lead up to 24-11 with about five minutes until halftime.
Saint Vincent was finally able to break the dam on offense, going on a 12-5 run to end the half and cut the lead to just 29-23. It was not always pretty, but the Bearcats were able to take advantage of four Westminster turnovers in this stretch to spark some early offense and find a rhythm.
The Bearcats shot just 26% from the field in that first quarter. Offense was hard to come by for almost the entirety of the half. Just when it looked like their backs were against the wall, Ashley Lippold sparked the comeback with six points in the first half. She seemed to always hit the big shot when it was needed.
Improvements were there to begin the third quarter as the Bearcats went on a 13-3 run over the first five minutes of the quarter to take a 36-32 lead. It was not perfect, shooting just 4-9 from the field, but the Bearcats were able to get open looks from deep and get to the foul line. They did this while keeping the intensity on defense holding Westminster to 1-6 shooting and forcing two turnovers.
From there the teams traded buckets and stops as Saint Vincent grew its margin a bit leading 43-37 heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter was much of the same with both teams exchanging buckets to keep the margin steady. Both teams converted their free throws but shot poorly from the field. Five Westminster turnovers in the quarter really robbed them of any chance to build momentum into a comeback attempt. Saint Vincent was once again able to slightly grow the lead, winning 63-56.
The Bearcats will look to push the win streak to five games when they take on Washington & Jefferson this Saturday, February 8 at home. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at the Robert S. Carey Center.
