(LATROBE, Pa.) - Senior center Nicole Dickman (Park Hills, Ky./Notre Dame) put-back a missed shot with 2.8-seconds to play in overtime as the second-ranked Thomas More College women's basketball team defeated 23rd-ranked Saint Vincent College, 68-66, in overtime tonight (Wednesday, January 19, 2010) at the Carey Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
With the win, the Saints improve to 16-0 overall and gain sole possession of first place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) with an 8-0 mark in the PAC. With the loss, the Bearcats fall to 14-2 overall and 7-1 in the PAC.
Saint Vincent jumped out to an early 4-2 lead when Maria Baroffio made a jumper with 17:42 to play in the first half. The Saints answered with a 17-5 run capped by a three-pointer by sophomore guard Chelsea Tolliver (Morning View, Ky./Simon Kenton) to take a 19-9 lead with 11:44 to play in the opening half. The Bearcats came right back with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 19-14 on a Melissa Mansur three-pointer at the 10:22 mark of the first half. Thomas More responded with a 22-10 run to take a 41-24 lead with 24-seconds to play in the half when Dickman made a lay-up. Saint Vincent's Devin McGrath made a three-pointer with seven-seconds to play in the half to cut the Saints' lead to 41-27 at halftime.
The Bearcats opened the second half on a 19-8 run capped by a three-pointer by McGrath with 12:23 to play in the second half to cut the lead to 49-46. Thomas More came right back with a 6-2 run to extend the lead to 55-48 on a Dickman lay-up with 9:25 to play in the regulation. Saint Vincent answered with an 8-0 run to take a 56-55 lead with 5:56 to play in the second half when Brittany Sedlock made a lay-up. The Saints put together an 8-1 run to take a 63-57 lead when Dickman made a lay-up with 2:20 left in regulation. The Bearcats closed out the second half on a 7-1 run capped by a three-pointer by Emily Fenton with 10-seconds to play in regulation to tie the game at 64-64 and force overtime.
In ovetime the Saints' Dickman made a lay-up to take a 66-64 lead with 4:47 to play in the extra period and then Sedlock made two free-throws for the Bearcats with 4:07 to play in the period to tie the game at 66-66. The rest of overtime was a defensive battle until Dickman put back a missed shot with 2.8-seconds to play in overtime for the 68-66 win.
Dickman scored a team-high 21 points to lead three Saints in double-figure scoring. Joining her in double-figures was senior forward Amy Stultz (Amelia, Ohio/McNicholas) with 14 points and Tolliver with 13 points. Dickman, Stultz, senior forward Dana Bors (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon) and sophomore forward/center Katie Kees (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) all led the team on the boards with six rebounds each. Sophomore guard Allison Long (Hebron, Ky./Conner) led the team in assists with five and steals with two, while Kees led the team in blocked shots with three.
The Saints will close out their three-game road trip on Saturday (January 22) when they travel to play PAC foe Grove City College at 1 p.m. inside the Grove City College Arena in Grove City, Pennsylvania.