A strong second half performance lifted the 23rd-ranked Saint Vincent women's basketball team to an 88-74 victory over visiting Thiel College.

Devin McGrath led SVC with a career-high 27 points, while Brittany Sedlock added 19.  Katie Muffley led all scorers with 28 points for Thiel.  Tied 39-39 at halftime, the Bearcats out-scored the Tomcats 49-35 over the second half, shooting 62 percent (18-for-19) from the floor in the process.

Saint Vincent started slowly, connecting on just four of their first 14 attempts from the field in the opening 11 minutes, as Thiel led 21-16 with 10:54 left in the opening half.  The Thiel lead would hover in the four-to-five point margin over the next several minutes, before the Bearcats looked to take over.

Trailing 26-22 with 6:10 left, the Bearcats scored six straight points, capped off with a Caty Kumar three-pointer that would put SVC in front 28-22 at the 5:22 mark.  The surge seemed to ignite the hosts, as the SVC lead would eventually reach five, 33-28, with just under four minutes left on an Emily Fenton three-pointer.

Thiel, however, would come right back, using an 11-3 run to go in front 39-36 with under 30 seconds left, before Kumar would send SVC into the locker room on a high note, beating the buzzer with a three from the corner to tie the game at 39-all at the half.

The teams would trade buckets over the opening minutes of the second half, until the Tomcats would break open a 50-50 tie with an 9-4 run to go in front 59-54 on a Muffley lay up with 12:20 left in regulation.

Saint Vincent would chip away at the five-point deficit, and with 10:19 to go, a lay up from Maria Baroffio, followed by a three from McGrath, would allow SVC to go in front 60-59.

It was a lead that the Bearcats would never relinquish.  Another three from McGrath made the score
70-65 with just under six minutes left to play, and two minutes later, five points from Sedlock in a 30-second span would give the Bearcats an 81-70 lead with 3:50 left.

The lead would continue to grow for SVC, which would eventually out-score the Tomcats 21-9 over the game's final seven minutes to hold off the upset and avoid its second straight loss.

In addition to the 62-percent shooting effort from the field in the second half, including a 5-for-10 mark from long range, the Bearcat defense also clamped down, as SVC forced 10 Thiel turnovers over the final 20 minutes while only committing three.

Saint Vincent ended the day with five scorers in double figures, as McGrath and Sedlock were joined by Baroffio (13 points), Kumar (11 points), and Fenton (10 points).  McGrath narrowly missed her second double-double in as many games, as she posted a team-high nine rebounds, while also tallying six of SVC's 16 steals.

In addition to her 28 points, Muffley also added a game-high 11 rebounds for the Tomcats.  Kelly Barzak was a second Thiel player with a double-double, with 19 points and 11 boards.

The victory improves the Bearcats to 15-2 overall and 8-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference, while Thiel falls to 3-14/2-7.

Saint Vincent will return to action on Wednesday, wrapping up its three-game homestand against PAC foe Westminster College, beginning at 6pm in the Carey Center.