CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (Feb. 28) - The Saint Vincent women's basketball team battled valiantly but lost to unbeaten and top-ranked Thomas More 75-65 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship game at the Connor Convocation Center in Kentucky.
With the loss SVC dropped to 22-5, while Thomas More stayed unbeaten at 27-0. The title was the ninth-straight for TMC.
Taylor Mathers led SVC with a team-high 18 points.Senior guard Ally Schmidt also scored in double figures, totaling 10 points and four rebounds and three assists. PAC Player of the Year Sydney Moss poured in a game-high 28 points.
The Bearcats got off to a nice start, gaining an early 8-3 lead at the 18:18 mark when Mathers converted a three-point play the old fashioned way. A Mara Benvenuti jumper stretched the Bearcats lead to 14-7 with 14:55 to play in the opening half. Thomas More then made a key run, outscoring the Bearcats 22 to 2 over the next nine plus minutes, taking a double-digit lead at 29-16 with 5:41 to play in the half. Schmidt stopped the run when she made a jumper at the 5:07 mark, making it 29-18 Thomas More.
Thomas More continued to hold a double-digit lead until Jill Kegg made a layup with 41 seconds to play in the half, cutting the Bearcats' deficit to 38-29. TMC added a pair of free throws to push the lead to 40-29 at halftime.
The host Saints worked their lead to 17 points (53-36) with 13:29 to play but the Bearcats hung tough, getting six straight points to cut the deficit to 53-40 at the 12:10 mark. Schmidt, Benvenuti and Kegg all chipped in two points each during the mini-run. TMC worked its edge back up to 16 before another Bearcats' run cut the deficit to single digits, at 58-50 with 7:34 to play. Back-to-back three-pointers from Mathers and sophomore guard Hannah Carroll ignited the run.
SVC fought valianty several times after TMC worked its lead back to double-digits, the Bearcats would answer the call but could never get closer than eight points late in the second half. The final time was when Schmidt made a jumper with 2:00 minutes remaining, working the deficit to 73-65. TMC closed out the scoring with a jumper at the 1:20 mark.
The Bearcats put together a respectable showing, scoring the fourth most points in a game against the top-ranked team in the nation. SVC shot 40 percent (26-55) from the field in the contest, including sinking six three-pointers. SVC also only committed one more turnover than did Thomas More (16-15).
Additional details will be available after the men's championship game tonight at the Carey Center. SVC will now await news of a possible at-large berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, which the bracket will be released Monday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. on the NCAA website.