Courtesy of Jim Wagner, Holy Family SID
ORANGEBURG, NY - Holy Family University point guard Kelly Killion recorded a game-high 19 points as the tenth-ranked Tigers (28-2) captured the 2006-07 CACC Women's Basketball Championship with a 68-44 victory over Philadelphia University (20-9) Saturday afternoon at Dominican College.
With the win, the top-seeded Tigers earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament which will start on Friday afternoon at a site to be determined. The tournament field will be announced on Sunday night. Holy Family will be making its fourth trip to the tournament in the last four years.
"Going through the league undefeated, we wanted a chance for these kids to win the tournament championship," Holy Family Women's Basketball coach Mike McLaughlin said afterwards. "It's been a great ride this season and I'm happy for the seniors."
Killion, along with senior center Megan Bauer junior forward Chrissy Kosiek were named to the CACC All-Tournament team. Killion was named as the tournament's MVP. Kosiek finished with 18 points, while Bauer had 16 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
For the second-seeded Rams, senior forward Meg Abele and freshman forward Jessica Romano each had ten points while senior center Alisha Ferguson had eight points and 14 rebounds.
Holy Family turned around its shooting woes in the second half, as the Tigers shot just 8-for-38 (21.1 percent) in the first 20 minutes of play. Despite the poor shooting, the Tigers led by five early on at 11-6 with 12:55 left on a pair of foul shots by Kosiek.
When the Rams cut the score to 11-10, the Tigers responded with a 5-0 run to extend the lead to six points.
With a 20-13 lead, the Tigers saw the Rams rally to tie the score at 20 via a 7-0 run, ending on a jumper by Kate McNulty with 3:45 left. In the last 3:45, Holy Family could not gain more than a two-point lead, going into the locker room up 28-26 at the half.
In the second half, the Rams tied the score at 28-all with 19:30 left. That basket would mark the final field goal for the Rams over a span of 9:42. Holy Family shot 61.5 percent (16-for-26) in the final 20 minutes of the game. The strong shooting, combined with the Tigers' defense, allowed Holy Family to go up 38-28 with 15:58 left on a basket by Kosiek. The basket ended a 10-0 run.
From that point, the Rams would get no closer than eight. Philadelphia inherited the Tigers' shooting woes and shot just 20.8 percent (5-for-24) from the field in the second half. The Rams finished the game shooting 29.2 percent from the field. Holy Family leads all of Division II in field goal percentage defense at 30.2 percent.
Philadelphia finished with a 43-41 advantage on the glass, but the Rams had 21 turnovers in the contest.
Kosiek, Killion and guard Lauren Boyer (So./Lebanon, PA/Lebanon) each had five assists.
Below are the results from the tournament and the All-Tournament team.
CACC First Round, Wednesday, February 28
#1 Holy Family 73, #8 Post 47
#2 Philadelphia 67, #7 Wilmington 63
#3 USP 73, #6 Bloomfield 63
#5 Goldey-Beacom 71, #4 Dominican 49
CACC Semifinals, Friday, March 2
at Coach Baxter Court, Dominican Campus
Philadelphia 66, USP 64
Holy Family 69, Goldey-Beacom 55
CACC Championship, Saturday, March 3
at Coach Baxter Court, Dominican Campus
Holy Family 68, Philadelphia 44
All-Tournament Team
Kelly Killion, Holy Family – MVP
Megan Bauer, Holy Family
Chrissy Kosiek, Holy Family
Meg Abele, Philadelphia
Alisha Ferguson, Philadelphia
Shelby Rance, USP
Cherrise Graham, Goldey-Beacom
Shantae Barnes, Bloomfield