The Saint Vincent women's basketball team earned a 69-57 victory at home over Thiel College in Presidents' Athletic Conference action.
 
The Bearcats looked to push the ball often throughout the first quarter, but struggled to find the hoop early. After a Thiel basket, Jasmine Weems responded with the first points of the night for the Bearcats off a Hannah Carroll assist to tie things up at 2-2. After the Tomcats responded, Weems once again answered, scoring on a fast break dish from Mara Benvenuti making the score 4-4 with 6:18 left in the first period. A Babette Sanmartin post move would give the Bearcats their first lead of the night, before the Tomcats battled back to a 10-8 advantage with a little over two minutes left in the quarter. Pairs of free throws on back-to-back possessions from classmates Katie Ryan and Lucy Bujdos gave SVC a 12-10 lead with 1:41 left in the first. Bujdos netted a deep two pointer and Susie Ellis hit a trey on the next possession to close the period with a score of 18-15, Saint Vincent.
 
Both teams played strong defense in the second, with both squads fighting for important points throughout the quarter. Ryan scored off an Ellis find followed by a Weems bucket off a Maria Morgan takeaway making the score 22-15 Bearcats. Following Weems' basket, Thiel scored 7 straight to tie the game at 22-all with 2 minutes left in the half. Carroll hit two enormous three-pointers for SVC in the closing seconds to send the Bearcats into the locker room leading the Tomcats 30-24 at the break.
 
For Saint Vincent, Weems, Carroll, and Ryan each had 6 first half points. For the Tomcats, Jaclyn Watkins netted 9.
 
Both the Bearcats and Tomcats seemed to find their rhythm offensively in the third as both teams battled back and forth down to the final seconds. Thiel started off strong, hitting a deep trey followed by a layup before Benvenuti scored her first points of the night off a baseline floater. Thiel immediately responded, before Ellis hit two from the charity strike, followed by a three on the next possession giving the Bearcats a 37-33 advantage.
 
Benvenuti found Weems from beyond the arc then scored two free throws of her own before the Tomcats scored 4 straight to bring the score within one, 42-41. Morgan hit her lone three of the night and drove the baseline on the next possession followed by a Weems fast break layup to make the score 50-43 SVC with one quarter left to play.
 
Sanmartin started the fourth off hot, scoring on a jumper and a fast break basket to extend the SVC lead to 11. Bujdos expanded the advantage, scoring 4 straight to give the Bearcats a 58-46 lead with 6:32 left in regulation. Ellis netted a jumper and Morgan connected on both shots from the free throw line to give Saint Vincent a commanding 62-51 lead. Benvenuti converted free throws to put the hard-fought game away, as Saint Vincent defeated Thiel by a score of 69-57.

For the Bearcats, Weems scored 14 followed by Ellis, who netted 10 of her own while grabbing 8 rebounds. Morgan rounded out the SVC scoring with 10. For the Tomcats, Watkins contributed 20 while Hannah Stoneman scored 10 points.

SVC is now 8-8 overall, 3-6 in the PAC.  The team travels to Bethany, West Virginia on Saturday (January 23) for a 2:00 tip.