WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson women's basketball team recovered from a four-point halftime deficit to defeat Saint Vincent, 74-73, at the Henry Center.

With the win, the Presidents improve to 17-5 on the season and 11-4 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference, maintaining solid position for third place in the league and keeping alive hopes at the second seed in the upcoming conference tournament and a potential double-bye into the semifinals. Saint Vincent, the second place team in the PAC, drops to 19-3 overall and 13-2 in the conference.

W&J trailed by five, 69-64, with 4:15 to play, but a three-pointer by Danni Medovich and a jumper by Taylor Cortazzo tied the game with 3:03 remaining. Each team sank a pair of free throws to stretch the score to 71-71 with just under two minutes to go. 

A pair of foul shots by Saint Vincent's Taylor Mathers gave the visitors a two-point edge as 1:25 showed on the clock, but Medovich answered with the final points of the game 14 seconds later with a three-pointer in the corner, 74-73.

After a miss by the Bearcats, Cortazzo missed a three with 17 ticks left and SVC recovered the rebound. Off an in-bounds play following a time out, W&J committed a foul with 6.3 seconds on the clock but both free throws were missed by SVC. The guests were able to get the rebound on the second one, but a layup attempt deflected off the rim and away with Valerie Dunlap pulling down the ball and securing the victory.

Cortazzo finished with 18 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Beka Bellhy scored 18 of her game-high 28 points in the first half to help keep W&J in the game despite trailing, 39-35, at the intermission. Bellhy also pulled down nine rebounds and made 10-of-11 free throws.

Dunlap hauled in a game-best 15 rebounds, her eighth-straight game with double-digit boards. Alexa DelGreco established a new career best with eight assists in the game and also collected six rebounds and five points. Medovich finished with 12 points, including both triples down the stretch that helped propel the Presidents to the win.

The Presidents next travel to Thomas More on Saturday, Feb. 14 for a 1 p.m. tip-off with the Saints who were voted the No. 1 team in the country in both the D3hoops.com and Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 polls this week.