The Saint Vincent women's basketball team cruised to an 83-32 victory over Illinois Tech in the opening day of the Daytona Beach Shootout, held in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The 51-point margin of victory was the team's largest since a 56-point win over Thiel College in February of 2015.

Paige Montrose got the Bearcats on the board first, scoring just over 45 seconds into play.  The Scarlet Hawks tied the game just over 10 seconds later, but it would be the closest the game would get.
 
Kayla Slovenec tallied five straight points to make it 9-2, then Babette Sanmartin came off the bench and took control of the inside game.  She added six points in a three-minute stretch, running the lead to 17-6.  A jumper by Kiara Arnold with less than a minute remaining in the quarter made the score 19-6 at the first break.
 
Sanmartin kept the Bearcats rolling to start the second quarter, scoring on a drive through the lane, followed by a baseline jumper from Bri Van Volkenburg.  Near the 7-minute mark, a drive by Jenna Lafko made the score 26-8, starting a 23-point Bearcat run that would last nearly the rest of the quarter.  Sanmartin led the way with 7 points during the run, which left the score at 47-8.  Only a free throw by Illinois Tech could end the run in the closing seconds, as the Bearcats took a 47-9 lead into the locker room.  Sanmartin had 15 points in the first half, shooting 6-7 from the floor and 3-4 from the free throw line.  The Bearcats caused 19 turnovers and had 11 steals in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Slovenec hit a pair of threes early in the third quarter, extending the lead to 59-11, and a Slovenec pass set up Arnold for a layup that made the score 63-13 just past the midway point.  Illinois Tech went to a press defense and caused a couple of Bearcat turnovers late in the quarter, outscoring SVC 7-4 in the closing minutes (67-20).
 
The fourth quarter belonged to SVC's Katie Cramer, as she put up 8 points in just six minutes of play as the Bearcats went on to the win.

Sanmartin led the way with 17 points, while Slovenec added 15, followed by Cramer's 8-point performance.  Arnold had a game-high 8 rebounds, while Mara Benvenuti had 7.  For the game, SVC shot 51.5%, compared to just 28% for the Scarlet Hawks.  The Bearcats had 19 steals as a team, led by Sanmartin with 4.

SVC is now 6-4 overall on the season, and will face Bethel University on Wednesday (December 20) in the final day of the Daytona Beach tournament.  Tipoff will be 5PM.