Feb 27, 2015 2 min read

CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. – Senior forward Taylor Mathers scored a game-high 24 points to power Saint Vincent to a 71-55 victory over Washington & Jefferson in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament semifinals Friday night.

Saint Vincent (22-4) will play Thomas More (26-0), the No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division III, in today’s championship game. The Saints advanced to the title game by defeating Grove City, 93-42, in the other semifinal.

Washington & Jefferson (20-7) trailed by six points with less than nine minutes remaining but was unable to generate enough offense to complete a comeback.

Mathers, a first team all-conference selection, scored 20 of her points in the second half, after Saint Vincent forged a 30-23 halftime lead. Mathers did not miss a shot in the second half, going 7-for-7 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

Saint Vincent built an early 14-point lead, but W&J pulled to within 22-19 before halftime. Mathers scored Saint Vincent’s first six points of the second half.

Katey Wilson’s three-point play cut Saint Vincent’s lead to 51-45 with 8:13 remaining, but the Bearcats went on an 8-1 run, with Mathers scoring six points, to build their lead to 59-46. W&J was unable to get the deficit to single digits for the rest of the game.

Valerie Dunlap scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to lead W&J. Amirah Moore followed with 11 points. Beka Bellhy, who was named a first team all-conference player Friday, was held to seven points.

Ally Schmidt scored 11 points for Saint Vincent.