BLOOMFIELD, N.J. - The Bloomfield College women's basketball team hosted the quarterfinal round of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) playoffs on Saturday afternoon and were defeated 60-46 by the Tigers of Holy Family University. The Tigers (18-10) entered the post-season as the CACC South Division's third seed and advanced to the semi-final round on Friday, March 6 at Philadelphia University. Bloomfield, the CACC North Division's second seed saw their season come to a close as they finished 17-10 on the year.

The playoff battle opened with both teams first points coming by way of the free throw line as Holy Family took a 2-0 lead on two makes by junior guard, Erin Fenningham (Philadelphia, P.A.). The Bears converted 1-of-2 offerings from junior forward, Iman Williams (Chesapeake, Va.) and the contest was underway. Holy Family controlled the tempo of the game early on, submitting Bloomfield to a full court press, a style the Bears frequently used on their opponents thru-out the regular season. The visitors reaped benefits from the pressure and seized a 13-8 lead after three consecutive possessions ended with a made three-pointer. Bloomfield answered with a De'Andra Humphries (Boston, Mass.) shot from downtown that ignighted an 8-0 run to the put the hosts up 16-13 with 11:46 on the clock. The Tigers answered with a 10-0 spurt capped by a layup in the paint by junior, Kasey Woetzel (Wyckoff, N.J.).

Holy Family saw their largest lead of the first half (8) on a three-pointer that put them up 28-20 with 2:25 remaining. The Tigers held the lead for almost sixteen minutes (15:53) of the opening frame and headed into the break up 28-22. The Bears forced nine turnovers in the first stanza and turned them into ten points. Bloomfield held a 14-6 advantage in points in the paint sparked by senior forward, Lauren Deverin (Sewaren, N.J.) and her 3-for-5 shooting from the floor for seven points. Holy Family out-rebounded the Bears 21-15 in the frame and shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity strip.

Bloomfield shot just 30 percent from the field in the first half and their shooting woes continued to the second as the Tigers never surrendered their lead the rest of the way. Two consecutive three-pointers put the visitors up 36-26 and the Bears found themselves searching for a comeback answer. Bloomfield clawed to within four (38-34) after a layup by sophomore guard, Tianna Smith (Nanuet, N.Y.) and 11:41 remaining in the quarterfinal match. The teams traded buckets back and forth with a Humphries' long range shot pulling the Bears to within four again (48-44), this time with 6:22 on the clock. The comeback attempt would fall short however as the Tigers, in the bonus, would convert free throws down the stretch to ice the victory and advance to the CACC semi-final round.

The Bears failed to shoot any free throws in the second half and finished the game at 50 percent (2-for-4) from the line. The Tigers capitalized on twelve trips to the charity stripe, converting ten of them to finish the game 14-of-16 from the line. Holy Family, despite being outscored in the paint 30-18 for the game, controlled the glass with a 40-27 advantage in rebounds, including 29-15 defensive boards. Bloomfield shot 32.3 percent from the field (20-of-62) to the Tigers' 44.4 percent (20-of-45) on the afternoon but the home team couldn't find a way to capitalize on the 19 turnovers they forced.

Smith finished the game as the lone Bear in double figures, netting 13 points to go along with 5 assists. Deverin and Humphries ended their day with 9 and 8 points respectively while senior center, Tierra Scott (Bear Del.) finished her Bloomfield career with a game-high 9 rebounds. Scott and sophomore guard, Morgan Taylor (Paterson, N.J.) each had 4 points on the afternoon and Williams chipped in 5 points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field. On the Holy Family side of the ball, Fenningham finished the game with 13 points followed by sophomore guard, Jill Conroy's (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 12. Woetzel chipped in 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds during the victory.  

The Tigers blocked Bloomfield's run at a repeat as CACC Champions and advanced to face USciences with the tournament this year shifting to Philadelphia University where the Rams will host the semi-final and championship games on March 6th and 7th. Click HERE for more information on the tournament.  

The Bears finished up 17-10 on the season with Scott being named the CACC Defensive Player of the Year. Scott ranked 34th in the nation averaging 2.04 blocked shots per game and served as Bloomfield's leading rebounder with 233 on the year. Smith finished as the team's leading scorer with 14.6 points per game and was named to the All-CACC Second Team. Taylor, the Bears leader in assists who dished out 106 assists this season was named to the All-CACC Third Team. Deverin closes out her career on the court for Bloomfield, netting 108 points for the year, 70 rebounds and an impressive 8 blocks after coming back from an injury. Humphries showed promise for the Bears future as the freshman scored 202 points for Bloomfield this year and shot 43.0 percent from the field. 

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