PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Nov. 21) - Behind strong performances from Taylor Mathers and Mara Benvenuti, the Saint Vincent women's basketball team earned an impressive road victory over La Roche, 75-55, at the Kerr Fitness Center.

Benvenuti and Mathers posted 17 points apiece and combined for 15 rebounds as the Bearcats improved to 2-0 on the young season. La Roche, who has qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament the past four seasons, falls to 0-1 to begin the season.

Saint Vincent and La Roche both started off hot offensively, as they scored three of their first four possessions, to make the score 6-6 at the 17:55 mark of the first half. However, that is when the visiting Bearcats slowly put some distance between themselves and the host Redhawks. The Bearcats went on an 11-to-2 run, capped by a Jasmine Weems three pointer, to make it 17-8 Bearcats with 11:05 to play in the first half.

La Roche worked the deficit back down to five points on two occassions before seeing Saint Vincent push the lead into double digits at 27-17 with a layup from Weems. Saint Vincent built its first half lead to as many as 19 points, at 38-19 when Mathers hit a lay up with 2:53 to play in the first half. SVC eventually settled for a 41-23 lead at the break.

The Redhawks tried to make things a little more interesting in the second half, as they surged out of the locker room with eight unanswered points to cut the Bearcats lead to just 41-31. However, SVC wasted little time building the lead back up, rattling off eight straight points of their own. Benvenuti was instrumental in the Bearcats run, scoring back-to-back baskets and setting up the four bucket with a steal on the defensive end.

SVC saw its advantage trimmed to as little as 11 points (51-40) but La Roche could never get the deficit back into single digits in the second half. Every time the Redhawks tried to make a run, the Bearcats countered right back. Saint Vincent finished off the victory by pushing the lead back over 20 points for its first road win of the season.

A big part of the Bearcats victory was strong shooting from the field, SVC converted 27-of-52 shots (51.9 percent), including sinking 6 of 12 shots from behind the three-point arc. Saint Vincent put together a respectable showing at the free throw line, making 15-of-23 shots at the charity stripe. The Bearcats defense held La Roche to just 30.6 percent from the field (19-of-62). Saint Vincent also put together a good team effort on the glass, holding a 41-to-32 rebounding advantage.

Aside from the strong play from Mathers and Benvenuti, SVC received nine points each from senior guard Ally Schmidt and sophomore guard/forward Hannah Carroll. Weems chipped in eight points in the victory.

Saint Vincent returns to the road when they face Juniata on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.