South Rises In CACC With Holy Family and Goldey-Beacom Semifinals Win

(Guru's note -- the CACC tournament story is direct from the DII conference website but the Guru at the bottom will handle the DIII teams playing in the NCAA tournament)

PHILADELPHIA – Holy Family University and Goldey-Beacom College will battle for the 2010-11 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Basketball Championship Saturday afternoon at Holy Family's Campus Center in Northeast Philadelphia.

Holy Family, the top seed from the South Division, upended North No. 2 Caldwell College, 83-62, in Friday's semi-final round. GBC advanced after a 62-57 victory over the North top seed, Bloomfield College. The championship game is slated for 4:00 pm Saturday afternoon.

The last time these teams met, the Lightning ended two Holy Family win streaks with a 64-51 win on Jan. 13 in the Campus Center. The loss snapped HFU's NCAA record 110-game regular-season conference win steak and also ended a 71-game home winning streak. Sophomore forward Irene Hudson tallied 19 points to lead GBC, while classmate Devonne Richardson registered 13 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.

The host Tigers got off to a quick start against Caldwell, scoring the first 10 points of the game. Sophomore guard Torey Jones helped the Cougars get back in the game by scoring 14 of Caldwell's first 17 points to pull her team to within two, 19-17 with 12:37 on the clock. Holy Family, ranked 15th nationally and first in the East Region, regained control with a 13-4 run, capped by a three-pointer from Megan Gibson. The lead grew to as many as 14 points en route to a 47-33 lead at the break.

Following a basket by junior forward Kaitlyn Lambert to open the second half, Holy Family's Samantha Thompson notched eight consecutive points, including a pair of threes, to put the Tigers on top, 55-35. The Cougars weren't able to get closer than 17 the rest of the way, as Holy Family led by as many as 28 points.

Thompson paced Holy Family with 21 points while going 5-of-8 from three-point range, while senior forward Catherine Carr added 16 points despite playing only 23 minutes due to foul trouble. Sophomore forward Erin Mann contributed 12 points and eight boards. Jones finished with a game-high 26 points for Caldwell while making four three-pointers, while senior guard Kirsty Leedham registered 16 points.

A Jacinda Jones triple in the waning moments capped Goldey-Beacom's upset over Bloomfield. The Lightning are the No. 3 seed in the South and were coming off a first round win over South No. 2 University of the Sciences. Sophomore forward Devonne Richardson had 13 points in the second half and led all scorers with 15 while also pitching in 10 rebounds and three assists.

Senior guard Janae Weldon knocked down three three-point field goals to finish with 11 points and also recorded four rebounds, two assists and three steals. Jones finished with nine, including the big three with 23 seconds left on the clock to ice the game. On the interior, sophomore forward Akilah Sewell and senior forward Arielle Alford commanded the paint.

Sewell finished with nine points, nine rebounds, five blocks and one steal, and Alford grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds while scoring four and collecting one block.

GBC held all five Bloomfield starters in single-digits as the Deacons, ranked tenth in the East Region, stayed in the game with great bench play, including 14 points by Dre'Shonda Williams and 13 points and three assists by Ivettlis Castro. Senior forward Tiffany McDaniel had a team-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points and two blocks.

Bloomfield opened the second half on a 10-2 run to take a 33-31 lead at the 17:20 mark, but the Lightning took the game over by going on a 12-0 surge over the next 6:16 to go up 43-33. GBC led by as many as 11 (50-39) after a pair of free-throws by Sewell with 9:35 left to play.

The Deacons scored 16 of the game's next 24 points to pull within three, 58-55 with just 48 seconds left in regulation. That is when GBC moved the ball around to work the clock, and with just nine seconds left on the shot clock and 23 seconds showing on the game clock, Jones buried her third three-pointer of the game.

2010-11 CACC Women's Basketball Tournament

Quarter-Finals – Monday, Feb. 28
N#1 Bloomfield 56, N#4 Dominican 42
N#2 Caldwell 65, N#3 Felician 54
S#1 Holy Family 72, S#4 Philadelphia 58
S#3 Goldey-Beacom 57, S#2 USciences 54

Semi-Finals - Friday, March 4 at Holy Family University
Holy Family 83, Caldwell 62
Goldey-Beacom 62, Bloomfield 57

Championship Game – Saturday, March 5 at Holy Family University
Holy Family vs. Goldey-Beacom – 4:00 pm

NCAA Division III Tourney

Katie Young had 24 points and 15 rebounds but Neumann University fell to host Lebanon Valley 83-68 Friday in Annville, Pa., in an NCAA Division III opening round game.

Erica Marvel had 18 points and Bethany Humenik scored 10 for the Knights (20-8) which had beaten Immaculata to win the Colonial States Athletic Conference.

Suzie Noyes scored 18 points for the Dutchwomen (26-2).

Lebanon Valley will host Randolph-Macon in the second round.

Elsewhere, Muhlenberg (22-5), the Centennial Conference champions, advanced on Alexandra Chili's 3-pointer with 1.0 seconds left to give the Mules a 64-63 win over Williams. They advanced to play host Rochester, a 70-52 winner over Daniel Webster in upstate New York.

"It's hard to describe," Chili said of her winning shot in comments posted on the Muhlenberg team's web page. "It's a great feeling having everyone rush the court. They lifted me up; then dropped me. I hope not too many people noticed that.

"The NCAA tournament is something you work for all season. It's really a reward because each game is never promised, so I'm glad we're able to continue our season."

Williams finished at 21-6.

Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins (22-5) eliminated Richard Stockton 76-68 in a first-round game at Newport News, Va., on the campus of Christopher Newport. The Ospreys (17-10) from Pomona and the New Jersey Athletic Conference got 21 points from Aspen Price-Perry and 13 each from LaTonya Oliver and Che'Na Thompson.

The winning Blue Jays were led by :Lyndsay Burton, who scored 31 points.

It was the Ospreys' first NCAA appearance since 2006.

Cherelle Simmons had 15 points and 12 rebounds -- her 11th double double -- but DeSales fell in the first round to host SUNY Geneseo 62-51.

The Freedom Conference champs finished 19-9.

-- Mel