WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball team hung with first-place Saint Vincent into the fourth quarter, but the Presidents fell 75-60 at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Bearcats remained unbeaten in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play on the season, moving to 13-5 overall and 9-0 in PAC play. The Presidents fall to 10-7, 5-4 PAC.
 
Trailing by 10 early in the fourth, W&J cut the deficit in half in the quarter's first 90 seconds. Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) connected on a pair of free throws and Aleena McDaniel (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) notched a layup and a three-point play to put the deficit at 55-50 with 8:40 to play.
 
The Bearcats scored the next nine-consecutive points to push their advantage to 64-50 with five minutes remaining in regulation. McDaniel connected on successive baskets to trim the deficit to 10, but the Bearcats maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
 
McDaniel led the way for the Presidents with 22 points, her second-highest scoring output of her career. Maria Lawhorne (Pttsburgh, Pa./Plum) and Alie Seto (Allison, Pa./Brownsville) each turned in double-double performances, with Lawhorne logging 13 and 10 rebounds and a Seto registering 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Saint Vincent's Jenna Lafko notched 21 points while Madison Kollar has 20.
 
The first quarter featured eight lead changes in the game's first seven minutes as the Presidents and Bearcats exchanged baskets with neither team scoring twice in a row until Kollar's jumper with 2:13 left in the quarter put the Bearcats ahead 11-8.
 
The Presidents tied the game at 13 with a McDaniel jumper and a pair of free throws by Maddie Gutierrez (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) with under a minute to play in the quarter. The Bearcats reeled off five-straight points in the final 34 second of the quarter to carry an 18-13 advantage into the second quarter.
 
Saint Vincent pushed its advantage to eight, 25-17, with 7:37 left in the first half. The Presidents responded with a six-point spurt with four points from McDaniel and two from Lawhorne.
 
The Bearcats pushed their lead to 29-25 with under two minutes to play in the quarter, but McDaniel responded with the Presidents' first three-pointer of the afternoon. SVC closed the second quarter like the first, with a last-second layup to extend its lead to 31-28.
 
Despite shooting seven-of-29 (24.1 percent) in the first half, W&J connected on 13-of-14 (92.9 percent) free throws to stay within one possession of Saint Vincent.
 
Early in the third quarter, W&J used consecutive layups by Seto to get within win, 33-32 with 8:29 left in the quarter. The Bearcats responded with seven-straight points before threes from Gilbert and Seto to pull back down four, 42-38 with 4:21 left.
 
The Bearcats responded with a 9-2 spurt over a three-and-a-half-minute span to lead by 51-40 before a McDaniel three closed the quarter with the Presidents trailing 51-43.
 
Despite shooting 20 free throws for the game, the Presidents were held without a foul shot in the third quarter and were outscored 20-15 in the frame.
 
The fourth quarter began with Lafko layup before the Presidents surged back within five.
 
W&J finished 18-of-20 (90 percent) from the free throw line and held a 42-33 rebounding advantage for the game.
 
The Presidents continue PAC play Wednesday evening at Geneva with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.