PHILADELPHIA, PA - Holy Family University disposed of Queens College Friday night, 74-43, to advance to the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II East Region Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Tigers, the second seed and host for the event, will face No. 3 Stonehill Saturday at 8:00 pm. Fellow Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) member Philadelphia University fell to the top seed, Franklin Pierce University, 80-62.

Senior forward Melissa Brooks led the charge for the Tigers with a game-high 18 points, on 7-of-11 shooting, and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Lauren Peters added 13 points, two assists and two steals in her first NCAA Tournament appearance.

Sophomore forward Lindsey Tennett came off the bench to score 10 points and grab three rebounds. Sophomore forward Catherine Carr added nine points, five rebounds and four assists, while junior center Christine McCollum recorded a game-high 12 rebounds, nine points, three assists and three steals. Holy Family is now 26-5 this season while Queens falls to 24-7.

For Queens, guard Amanda Bartlett paced the team with 12 points and five rebounds. Forward Jennifer DiChiara had an 11-point, eight rebound
night.

The Tigers controlled the play inside by out-rebounding the Lady Knights, 41-32, and out-scoring them in the paint, 30-8. Holy Family also converted 21 Queens turnovers into 29 points.

The #8 seed Philadelphia (21-10) ended its season with a 80-62 loss to Franklin Pierce (25-5) in the first game of the day. PhilaU was led by junior center Jess Romano with 17 points and nine rebounds, and junior guard Taylor Magnus with 14 points.

The Lady Rams jumped out to a 6- 3 lead early in the first half, but FPU's junior guard Johannah Leedham knocked down the team's first nine points to give her team a 9-8 edge with 13:48 left. Leedham had a game-high 21 points for FPU. PhilaU junior forward Kate Brennan hit a bucket to give the Lady Rams a 10-9 lead on the next play. Brennan finished with 13 points and nine boards on the day. However, the Ravens went on a 14-5 run over the next five minutes to pull ahead 24-16 at the 7:40 mark and led by their biggest tally of the half at 41-22.

The Ravens did not slow down in the second half, sprinting out on an 11-3 run in the first two and a half minutes to go up 52-25, which was their biggest lead of the game.

The Lady Rams began to chip away at the Raven lead as Magnus cut it to 19 at 7:15 by sinking two free-throws to make it 71-52. The Lady Rams then pulled to within 12 on two free-throws by Kate Brennan, but the Ravens held on for the 80-62 NCAA victory to move onto Saturday’s semi-final round.

Friday, March 13

Game 1: #1 Franklin Pierce 80, #8 Philadelphia 62

Game 2: #5 American International 71, #4 Bentley 59

Game 3: #3 Stonehill 62, #6 Saint Rose 58

Game 4: #2 Holy Family 74, #7 Queens 43

Saturday, March 14

Game 5: Franklin Pierce vs. American International - 6:00 pm VIDEO

Game 6: Holy Family vs. Stonehill - 8:00 pm VIDEO

Monday, March 16

Regional Championship - 7:00 pm VIDEO