Strong third quarter pushes SVC to sixth straight win

More news about: St. Vincent

HUNTINGDON, Pa. (Dec. 21) - Four players scored in double figures as the Saint Vincent women's basketball team topped Rosemont College by a 72-60 margin at the Juniata College Holiday Classic. 

The win was the sixth straight for the Bearcats, who move their record to 8-2 overall. Meanwhile, the loss snaps the Ravens' three-game winning streak and moves them to 5-3 overall.

Both teams struggled through a tough back and forth first half, as SVC built a narrow 30-27 advantage at the break. Both teams were held under 35 percent shooting from the field over the first 20 minutes of action. 

Saint Vincent started slow, falling behind early as Rosemont built a 13-3 advantage less than five minutes into the game. Trailing by a 16-7 score with 3:00 left in the first quarter, the Bearcats began to work itself back as a layup by Carlee Kilgus started a 6-1 run to trim the deficit to 17-13 at the end of the opening quarter. 

After the Ravens pushed the advantage back to six points (25-19) at the 4:17 mark of the second, the Bearcats rattled off seven straight points to take a 26-25 lead with 1:47 to play in the half after a three-point play by Paige Montrose. Montrose and Kilgus combined to convert four consecutive free throws to give SVC a 30-27 lead at halftime. 

A three-point play by Bri Van Volkenburg followed by a layup by Madison Kollar helped SVC build a 40-32 edge at the 5:29 mark of the third. A little later, the Bearcats would extend the lead into double figures as Kollar added two free throws to make the score 44-34 with 4:18 left in the quarter.

Five straight points by Taylor Boring would give SVC a 49-34 lead at the 2:24 mark. The strong quarter allowed SVC to take a 53-40 advantage into the fourth. 

Saint Vincent would maintain a double-digit lead for the duration of the fourth quarter en route to its sixth straight win overall. 

Kollar led the quartet of Bearcats to finish in double figures, as the Greater Latrobe product recorded 16 points while adding eight rebounds. Montrose registered her second career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Montrose also added four steals and two blocks in the win. 

Maria Morgan finished with 13 points while Boring also added 13 points, including 3-of-5 from behind the three-point line. Jenna Lafko and Kilgus each were effective guiding the offense through another win, as the sophomore point guard combination combined for nine assists. Van Volkenburg filled the stat sheet with five points, eight rebounds and five assists. 

Saint Vincent wraps up the 2018 portion of its schedule with a non-confernece matchup with SUNY Polytechnic Institute on Saturday (Dec. 22) at the Juniata Holiday Classic. Start time is scheduled for 2 p.m.