UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio (Nov. 15) – The Saint Vincent women's basketball team dropped a 73-58 road decision to John Carroll University in the 2016-17 season opener for both teams.
 
John Carroll scored the initial basket of the contest on their first possession. Babette Sanmartin got SVC on the board with a jumper off a pass from Mara Benvenuti, tying the contest at 2-2 three minutes in.
 
Saint Vincent would build a 9-2 lead after seven more consecutive points, which included an offensive rebound and putback by Benvenuti and a three-point field goal by Jasmine Weems. The Bearcats held the seven-point edge at the 5:15 mark, forcing a JCU timeout.
 
However, John Carroll owned the rest of the opening quarter. The Blue Streaks used a 13-1 run to take a 15-10 advantage after 10 minutes of play. JCU out-rebounded SVC 16-8 during the first quarter.
 
The hosts continued to take command in the second, scoring the first 10 points of the quarter to make it 25-10 Blue Streaks. Sophomore Katie Ryan finally stopped the run with a layup with 7:20 to play in the half. 
 
However, John Carroll scored the next seven points to help the lead swell to 20 (32-12) with 1:56 left before halftime. Stopping the run was Benvenuti, who connected on a three-pointer off a pass from sophomore Maria Morgan. After a JCU layup, Morgan added two free throws with 1:11 left in the quarter. The Blue Streaks out-scored Saint Vincent by a 21-7 margin to take a 36-17 halftime lead.
 
Saint Vincent struggled in the first half, converting just 6-of-38 field goal attempts (15.8 percent), including just 2-of-13 three-pointers (15.4 percent). The Bearcats also committed 12 turnovers over the opening 20 minutes. Meanwhile, JCU converted 46.2 percent from the field (12-26), including 4-of-8 from behind the arc and 8-of-8 at the free throw line.
 
John Carroll continued to hold a commanding lead throughout the third quarter. Kayla Slovenec connected on a layup off a pass from Benvenuti, drawing SVC within 15 (45-30) with 3:50 left in the quarter. However, John Carroll closed on a 13-5 run to push its lead to 58-35 after three.
 
Trailing 67-48 with 4:13 to play in the contest, SVC used a 9-0 run to cut the deficit back to 10 points (67-57), as Taylor Boring, Weems and Morgan connected on three straight triples with 1:52 to play. However, that is as close as SVC would get as they fell 73-58.
 
Morgan led the way with a team-high 14 points, converting four of her five three-point attempts. Morgan added five rebounds in the loss. Benvenuti chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and three assists for SVC.
Katlyn Spahar led all players with a game-high 25 points for John Carroll.
 
John Carroll shot 50 percent from the field (25-of-50), while SVC managed to convert just 20-of-82 (24.4 percent) from the field. JCU outrebounded SVC with a 54-40 margin, despite SVC pulling down 23 offensive rebounds. John Carroll won despite committing 34 turnovers in the contest.
 
SVC returns to action when they face William Patterson University (N.J.) on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the DeSales University Tournament. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.