CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (Feb. 27) – Taylor Mathers reached the 1,000 point plateau for her career as the Saint Vincent women's basketball team defeated W&J 71-55 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal round.

The win avenged losses to W&J the past two years in the semifinal round and allowed SVC to return to the PAC Championship for the first time since 2011-12. SVC improved to 22-4 with the win, while W&J dropped to 20-7 on the season.

The Bearcats got off to a strong start, outscoring W&J 9-2 over the first four plus minutes of the game. Senior guard Jessica Welch got the scoring started, with a three-pointer on the opening possession of the contest. Fellow senior Ally Schmidt accounted for three of the next six points for SVC to end the early run.

After pushing its lead to 11-4, the Bearcats used another big run to push their lead comfortably into double figures. The run was keyed by a trio of triples, including back-to-back treys from sophomore Hannah Carroll, the last of which made it 20-6 at the 9:46 mark.

Taylor Mathers converted a layup, pushing the Bearcats lead to 22-7 with 8:04 to play in the opening half of play. That is when W&J worked its way back into the game, scoring the next 12 points to cut the Bearcats lead to 22-19 at the 4:29 mark.

SVC answered right back with six straight points, which included a three-pointer by Jill Kegg and three straight points from Schmidt. The run made it 28-19 Bearcats with 1:36 to play in the half. The teams traded baskets throughout the remainder of the half before the Bearcats settled for a 30-23 lead at the break.

The Bearcats pushed their lead back to double figures (36-25) when Mathers made a layup at the 18:26 mark. W&J responded with four straight points, making it 36-29 Bearcats with 17:03 to play in the second half.

Shalia Williams split a pair of free throws, pushing the Bearcats lead back into double figures, at 47-37 with 12:41 to play in the contest. W&J worked the deficit down to as few as five points, at 51-46 with 8:13 left in the game.

That is when SVC hunkered down and scored eight straight points to bring its lead to 59-46 with 5:18 to play. It was that run that really sunk any hopes W&J had for a comeback. During the run, SVC made six straight free throws before Mathers added a layup.

Saint Vincent maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way. W&J cut the lead to 59-49 but SVC responded with four straight points before eventually earning a 16 point victory.

Mathers was one of three Bearcats to finish in double figures offensively, scoring 24 points to lead all scorers. Mathers became the 26th women's basketball player to top 1,000 points for her SVC career. Schmidt put together another productive night, scoring 11 points while dishing out nine assists and pulling down a team-high six rebounds. Williams added 10 points and six rebounds to help SVC to the victory.

Defense was a big part of the story for SVC, as W&J converted just 33.9 percent from the field. The Presidents also made just two of nine three-point attempts. W&J also committed 24 turnovers in the contest.

SVC will now face top-ranked and unbeaten Thomas More, who defeated fifth-seed Grove City 93-42 in the night's second semifinal contest. The championship game is set for Saturday, Feb. 28, with a 5 p.m. tip at the Connor Convocation Center.