PHOTO GALLERY OF 2015-16 CACC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP  //  2015-16 CACC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

ORANGEBURG, N.Y. (March 5, 2016) -- A strong defensive effort, coupled with three double-figure scorers, propelled the Philadelphia University women's basketball team as the Rams captured the 2015-16 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Basketball Championship with a 52-46 win over Bloomfield College at the Hennessy Center in Orangeburg, N.Y.

The No. 1 seed from the South Division limited Bloomfield to a 29-percent shooting clip and forced them into 18 turnovers, as PhilaU captured its first league tournament title since the 2008-09 campaign. The Rams improved to 25-6 and will await what seed they earned for next weekend's NCAA Division II East Region Tournament at a site to be determined. Bloomfield fell to 24-7 and will also await its fate for an at-large bid to the NCAA Regional. The NCAA will release its 2016 tournament bracket Sunday night at NCAA.com(.)

Jessica Kaminski pumped in a team-high 14 points, while also being named to the CACC All-Tournament Team in the process. She was 5-of-9 from the field and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. If that wasn't enough, Kaminski also collected four assists and a steal.

Mary Newell added 11 points for the Rams and was named the CACC Tournament's Most Valuable Player, aided in large part by her phenomenal 25-point, 13-rebound performance in Friday's semifinal win over Caldwell University. Bria Young chipped in 10 points as well. Tori Arnao was PhilaU's third member on the all-tournament team.

Ariel Wilson and Tianna Smith went for 16 and 14 points, respectively, for Bloomfield. Wilson and Chyna Golden were named to the all-tournament team.

Newell got the Rams off to a strong start as she scored five points in the opening minutes, as Philadelphia scored eight of the game's first 10 points. Eventually the Rams took a 17-7 lead after one quarter. Philadelphia continued to stifle Bloomfield in the second quarter and led by as many as 13 points in building a 29-19 advantage at the intermission.

Bloomfield, though, tried to counter and got to within a pair at 29-27 early in the third. Wilson started and capped the Bears' opening 8-0 surge with long three-pointers, while Deja McKenzie flipped in a layup.

PhilaU called a quick timeout to settle things down and it worked as the Rams slowly started to build back its lead. Young turned in a three-point play on a basket and free throw to push the Rams' advantage back out to double-figures at 42-32 with a minute left in the third.

The Philadelphia response proved to be the difference maker in the second half, as Bloomfield could not muster up another serious rally to get back in the game. The Rams' defense held the Bears to several low percentage shots from the perimeter, while PhilaU at the other end made several free throws late to ice it.

Saturday's championship final was a rematch of a thriller between the two teams back on Jan. 30 in Philadelphia. In that game, Bloomfield responded from a seven-point second-half deficit to pull out a 63-58 win over the Rams in front of national television/world-wide internet audience on ESPN3.

The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Nyack College, Philadelphia University, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.

2015-16 CACC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Megan Wolfe (USciences)

Sharell Sanders (Caldwell)

Erin Fenningham (Holy Family)

Chyna Golden (Bloomfield)

Ariel Wilson (Bloomfield)

Jessica Kaminski (Philadelphia)

Tori Arnao (Philadelphia)

Mary Newell (Philadelphia)

MVP: Mary Newell (Philadelphia)