GROVE CITY, Pa. (Feb. 3) – Mara Benvenuti completed a three-point play with 2.3 seconds to play, propelling Saint Vincent to a dramatic 70-67 victory over Grove City in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at the College Arena.
Both teams battled back and forth for 40 minutes, with each team rattling off several lengthy scoring runs. Lexie Arkwright drained back-to-back threes to help Grove City tie the game at 67-67 and set up the game winner from Benvenuti.
Like it has done during the team's recent winning streak, Saint Vincent got off to a fast start to build an early lead. Benvenuti opened the game with a three on the Bearcats' opening possession.
Kayla Slovenec then added a trey of her own to double the lead at 6-0. Grove City finally got on the board with a three-pointer from Arkwright at the 6:07 mark.
Slovenec would tack on five of the next seven points, including another three to make it 13-3 with 3:41 left in the first quarter.
Saint Vincent would continue to lead by double digits for the remainder of the quarter, as Jenna Lafko drained a three to give the Bearcats a 19-6 edge after 10 minutes.
The Bearcats opened the second quarter with a 7-1 run to extend the lead to 26-7 at the 7:10 mark. Lafko started and ended the run with a layup each. That is when Grove City flipped a switch, closing the half on a 25-10 run to cut the Bearcat lead to 36-32 after 20 minutes.
Lafko paced the Bearcats off the bench with nine points in the first half, while Slovenec and Erin Giancola each added eight points.
After a quiet first half, Babette Sanmartin started the third quarter with back-to-back driving layups, pushing the SVC advantage to 40-32. Grove City countered with a basket of its own, Sanmartin added a jumper to make it 42-34.
That is when Grove City used another long run, this time to surge into the lead. The Wolverines used a 13-0 spurt to take a 47-42 lead over the Bearcats with 4:08 left in the third. A three-pointer to beat the third quarter buzzer helped GCC extend the lead to 54-47 entering the fourth with its biggest lead of the game and all of the momentum.
Behind strong defense and timely shooting, Saint Vincent mounted a fourth quarter comeback. Trailing 59-53 with 6:24 to play, Saint Vincent rattled off a 13-0 run to regain a 66-59 advantage over Grove City.
Carlee Kilgus started the run with a three pointer in front of a pair of free throws by Montrose, closing the game to 59-58 with 5:26 to play. Lafko buried a deep three and then added another three points with a field goal and free throw to give SVC a 64-59 lead to cap the scoring run.
However, Grove City refused to back down, getting back-to-back three-pointers by Arkwright to tie the game at 67-67 with 36 left to play. That set up the Benvenuti basket and free throw to seal the win for the Bearcats.
Lafko led Saint Vincent with a career-high 17 points off the bench. Sanmartin tallied her fifth career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Arkwright led Grove City with 18 points, while Jess Book tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolverines.
With its fifth straight win SVC moves to 11-3 in the PAC and 14-7 overall. Grove City drops to 8-6 in the league and 13-7 overall.
The SVC victory avenges a 60-49 Grove City win back on Jan. 6 in the Carey Center.
Saint Vincent returns to action when they host Bethany College at the Carey Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Tip-off between the Bearcats and Bison in The Green Game is set for 5:30 p.m.