The 19th-ranked Saint Vincent women's basketball team fell in the 2011 Presidents' Athletic Conference championship tilt by a 66-55 score to top-ranked Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, KY.

The Bearcats shot just 28.6 percent for the game, and were unable to recover from a 36-27 halftime deficit.

Brittany Sedlock, the 2011 PAC Player of the Year, led the way for SVC with her 11th double-double of the year with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Melissa Mansur scored 10 in the losing effort.  

Thomas More saw four players score in double figures, led by 13 points from Katie Kees and an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double by Nicole Dickman.

The Bearcats got off to a fine start, taking a 7-2 lead just three minutes into play after a three-pointer from Emily Fenton and a mid-range jumper from Devin McGrath.  Thomas More would quickly come back, taking their first lead of the night, 11-9, at the 12:37 mark, but the Bearcats would counter, regaining the lead with a pair of McGrath free throws that made the score 15-14 with 8:20 left until the intermission.

The Saints then answered back in a big way, using an 11-0 run over a three-minute span to take a 10-point lead, 25-15, with 5:50 left in the half.   The lead would eventually stretch to 36-21 with 46 seconds left, before the Bearcats used three-pointers from Mansur and Maria Baroffio in the final 20 seconds to close the halftime deficit to 36-27.

In the first half, the Saints shot 54 percent, going 14-for-25 from the field, including a 5-for-8 mark from behind the three-point arc.  Saint Vincent, however, was ice cold, connecting on just nine of 32 attempts from the field, and going 4-for-13 from long range.

Saint Vincent started the second half on the right foot, scoring the first five points, capped off with a Sedlock shot clock beating three pointer, that pulled the Bearcats to within four, 36-32, with 18:08 left.

The Saints then countered with a 17-4 run over a four-minute span to go in front 53-37, before enjoying another 15-point margin, 57-42, with just under four minutes remaining.

The Bearcats then looked to mount a comeback, and behind five points from Sedlock and four from Baroffio, SVC pulled to within single digits, 62-53 after a conventional three-point play from Sedlock with 1:25 remaining.  Thomas More would then ice the game at the foul line over the final minute, however, connecting on four freebies to seal the PAC title.  The Bearcats allowed just five second half field goals from Thomas More, but the Saints made 19 free throws over the final 20 minutes.

Saint Vincent's defense managed to force 21 Thomas More turnovers, accounting for nine steals, led by four from Mansur and two apiece from Baroffio and Sedlock.  Saint Vincent ended the game with a 29 percent mark from the floor (18-for-63), while Thomas More shot at a 49 percent clip (19-for-39).

With the victory, Thomas More automatically qualifies for the 2011 NCAA Division-III National Tournament, while the Bearcats will now wait to see if they receive one of the 22 at-large bids to the tournament.  The NCAA will announce the tournament participants on Monday morning.