Tigers Advance to CACC Finals; Defeats Dominican 67-51

Philadelphia, Pa. - The top-seeded Holy Family University women's basketball team will be heading back to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship Final after defeating Dominican College by the score of 67-51 in the semifinals hosted by the University of the Sciences Friday afternoon at Bobby Morgan Arena.
 
Holy Family, ranked fifth in the recent USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division II National Top-25 Coaches' Poll and fourth in the East Region, improves to 26-2 overall.  The win extended the team's season long winning streak to 14 games.  Dominican, seeded second from the North Division, concludes its season at 18-10. 
 
Holy Family will face the top-seed from the North Division, Caldwell College, in the CACC Championship Final on Saturday.  Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.  The Tigers will be appearing in their fourth straight championship game. 
 
Senior Erin Mann (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) led all scorers with a game-high 18 points after shooting an impressive 9-of-10 from the field.  Mann finished the first half 6-of-6 from the field.  She also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked six shots on the defensive end. 
 
Senior Kelly Brady (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) filled the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds and two assists, while junior Mary Ellen McCollum (Abington, Pa./St. Basil Academy) contributed eight points (3-5 FG) and six rebounds.  Junior Katie Duma (Poestenkill, N.Y./Averill Park) supplied the Tigers with seven points off the bench as well as eight boards.  Senior Ana Cruz (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) finished the game with a high six assists.
 
For Dominican, junior KC Jentzen recorded her eighth double-double of the season after leading the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds.  Jentzen also converted 9-of-12 from the free throw line.  Sophomore LaShanda Hathorne also scored in double-figures after totaling ten points.
 
Holy Family led the entire game except for the short period of the time the Tigers trailed 2-0 to start the game.  The Tigers used a 12-0 run after Dominican scored the game's first basket to take a double-digit lead capped by a Mann layup making the score 12-2 at the 14:28 mark.  Holy Family would use its 12-0 run and turn it into a 20-1 rally to lead 20-3 (7:50).
 
Holy Family would go on to lead by as many as 20 points in the first half after Duma connected on a jump shot to make the score 32-12 with 2:12 to play until halftime.  The Tigers enter the locker rooms as the half with a 32-17 advantage.
 
In the second half, Holy Family maintained its double-digit lead and increased its edge on Dominican by as many as 23 points for the game.  The Tigers led 57-34 after McCollum drained a three-pointer with 6:07 to play in regulation.
 
Holy Family shot 46.9-percent from the field and held Dominican to only 30.2-percent shooting.  The Tigers also held an edge in rebounds (44-32), assists (25-4), blocks (10-2) and three-pointers (7-4). 
 
Dominican did hold the advantage at the charity stripe as the Chargers shot 15-of-19, while Holy Family only made three trips to the line (0-3).
 
As mentioned, Holy Family is back in action on Saturday, March 8 as the Tigers face Caldwell College in the CACC Championship Final.  Game time is slated for 4 p.m. at the Bobby Morgan Arena.
 

  - HFU -