Jasmine Weems and Mara Benvenuti each scored 14 points as the Saint Vincent women's basketball team rallied for a 68-61 victory over the University of La Verne (CA) at the D3hoops.com Classic.

The Bearcats outscored the Leopards 25-13 in the fourth quarter to finish with a perfect 2-0 record in Las Vegas.

Weems got Saint Vincent on the board first and kept going, scoring the Bearcats first seven points, helping build an early 7-2 lead.

After the Leopards scored the next two baskets to draw within a point at 7-6, SVC countered with the next four points, pushing the lead back to five (11-6).

La Verne made a couple separate runs to cut the deficit to 15-14 at the end of the first quarter. Weems paced SVC with 11 of the 15 first quarter points, while Emily Myers had 12 of the Leopards 14 points in the opening stanza.

Six straight points allowed the Leopards to take their first lead of the game, at 20-16. Babette Sanmartin helped SVC break a six-plus minutes drought without a field goal, as she cut the deficit to 20-18 with 5:20 left in the first half.

A three-pointer by Maria Morgan put the Bearcats back in front with a 21-20 advantage. Eight straight points by Myers helped La Verne regain the lead at 30-24, late in the first half. Hannah Carroll stopped the bleeding with a late jumper to make the deficit 30-26 at halftime.

Three straight free throws to open the third quarter helped SVC back to within a point at 30-29. La Verne pushed the lead to 34-29 before Benvenuti answered back with a three-pointer. The field goal by Benvenuti was the Bearcats first of the quarter, after going nearly four minutes without one.

A pair of free throws helped La Verne build its biggest lead of the game at 46-37 late in the third quarter. However, SVC countered with six straight points, including a pair of layups by Carroll to make it 46-43.

SVC opened the fourth with six straight points to regain the lead, capped by two free throws (49-48) by Lucy Bujdos at the 7:47 mark. After Bujdos added two more free throws, Susie Ellis drained a three to give SVC a 54-50 edge with 6:20 to play.

La Verne then responded with 7-2 run to regain the lead at 57-56. After the teams exchanged baskets, Benvenuti dialed up a three-pointer from straight on, giving SVC a 61-59 lead with 1:42 left.

SVC took care of business at the free throw line down the stretch to salt away the victory. Overall the Bearcats converted 19 of 24 free throws (79.2 percent) for the game. As a team, SVC also held a 45-40 edge in rebounding.

Weems put together another strong performance, narrowly missing a double-double with 14 points and adding nine rebounds. Benvenuti chipped in 14 points and five rebounds, while Carroll tallied 12 points and eight boards. Carroll was named All-Tournament Team by D3hoops.com.

Katie Ryan and Bujdos teamed up to chip in 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

The win was the third straight for SVC, who improved to 6-4 overall. Meanwhile, La Verne dropped to 2-7 for the season.

The Bearcats will now travel back home before jumping back into Presidents' Athletic Conference play against Westminster College on Saturday, Jan. 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Carey Center.