Saint Vincent women rally in PAC championship vs. Chatham, earn NCAA Tournament bid

No matter what happens from here, Jimmy Petruska’s 13th season as women’s basketball coach at Saint Vincent just might be his most special.

In a reversal from a year ago, when the Bearcats were tabbed as the Presidents’ Athletic Conference preseason favorites but flopped, there was no sign of a letdown this year despite being predicted to finish sixth.

“Face it, preseason polls pretty much are what you did the previous season,” Petruska said. “We kept it quiet. We kept it internal — we kept a lot of things internal — and we continue to focus on growth every day.”

Junior guard Emily Cavacini scored 22 points, and Saint Vincent went 20 for 21 from the free-throw line Saturday as the Bearcats rallied from a nine-point, third-quarter deficit to run past Chatham, 68-52, and win their third PAC Tournament championship. All have come since 2019.

The victory, before 1,225 fans at Carey Center in Unity, sent second-seeded Saint Vincent (22-4) into the NCAA Division III Tournament for a fourth time since the school transitioned from NAIA.

NCAA Tournament first-round pairings are scheduled to be released Monday.

Cavacini, a Shaler product and the tournament MVP, scored 14 second-half points, and Lizzie Bender notched 10 of her 12 after halftime to ignite Saint Vincent’s comeback.

“Big-time games, big-time players,” Chatham coach David Saur said. “You’ve got to make plays, and usually that’s the way it goes this time of year. It’s not the X’s and O’s. It’s not the play calls. It’s players stepping up in a big-time moment, and they certainly did. (Cavacini) finished this thing off. She’s a champion. She earned it.”

Saint Vincent, which earned a trip to the title game by beating sixth-seeded Westminster, 52-45, in the semifinals, trailed Chatham, 32-23, with 8 minutes, 23 seconds left in the third quarter before heating up.

It was the rubber match for the season between the schools, as each won on the other’s floor during the regular season.

Neither team shot well from behind the 3-point arc, Saint Vincent finishing at 23.5% (4 for 17) and Chatham at 17.6% (6 for 34). But the Cougars connected on 4 of 9 in the second quarter to help them to a 30-23 halftime lead.

“In the first half, they had us on our heels and they were jelling. We went to a half-court, 2-3 zone in the second half, and we focused on getting back on defense,” Petruska said. “We said, ‘No points in transition.’ ”

It worked for Saint Vincent. A 17-6 run, capped by a pair of Madison Weber free throws, put the Bearcats ahead 40-38 with 2:08 to go in the third. From there, Saint Vincent steadily pulled away, eventually outscoring Chatham, 45-22, in the second half.

Ella Marconi also scored 12 points, and Weber finished with 10 for Saint Vincent.

Chatham (19-8), playing with a roster made up exclusively of sophomores and freshmen, was led by Ashlie Louden’s 19 points. The Cougars advanced to the championship game by upsetting top-seeded and defending tournament champion Washington & Jefferson, 57-40, in the semifinals.

Saur is in his fifth season at Chatham after stints as an assistant at Stetson, UMass Lowell and Louisiana Monroe in Division I; IUP and Cal (Pa.) in Division II and Thiel in Division III. In all that time, he said he hasn’t been more captivated than by his current team at Chatham.

“It’s amazing the growth we’ve had,” he said. “I’ve never seen a team in 15 years at all levels grow from start to finish like this group has. To be able to play itself into the championship game by beating a top-25 team in the semis is something. But this environment, especially in the last 20 minutes, you could see the veteran leadership and the players that have been here and played for a title before.”

Alyssa Laukus added 15 points, and Zelimar Rodriguez posted 13 for Chatham.

Cavacini recalled her freshman season, when Saint Vincent won a PAC Tournament championship after an abbreviated 10-game regular season because of covid-19. She said there’s little to compare to this year.

“I can’t even take the smile off my face,” she said. “We won when I was a freshman, but it’s nothing like this in this environment with our fans and our families here. It’s indescribable.”

Petruska, too, was smiling. After all, you’d have to dig deep to find a more rewarding victory after last season’s disappointing showing that saw Saint Vincent close an 8-14 season with a decisive first-round loss to Grove City in the PAC Tournament.

“It’s so refreshing and rewarding,” he said. “Our society needs what everybody experienced here today. The environment was spectacular. Sports helps people in a lot of different ways, and I think a lot of people experienced that today.”