PHILADELPHIA, PA - The Holy Family University women's basketball team defeated Dominican College Saturday afternoon, 68-52, to earn its second consecutive Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Basketball Tournament Championship. Holy Family freshman Catherine Carr was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Holy Family sophomore center Christine McCollum poured in a career-high 24 points to lead the fourth ranked Tigers to the 68-52 win over Dominican on Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center. This is the Tigers' sixth CACC crown and third in the last four years. The triumph also gives Holy Family (30-0), who is sitting in the top spot in the NCAA Northeast Region poll, the CACC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament. It will be the fifth consecutive trip the Tigers will make to the tournament.
Dominican, currently ranked seventh in the Northeast Region, still has a chance to make the tournament with a 22-8 overall record. The selection show for the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament will be on Sunday, March 9 at 10:30 p.m. and can be viewed on the internet at www.cstv.com/ncaa/divii or www.ncaa.com.
McCollum was 9-of-14 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line in the victory. She also added nine rebounds. Senior point guard Kelly Killion added 17 points and dished out five assists. Freshman forward Catherine
Carr contributed with 11 points and seven rebounds, while junior forward Melissa Brooks recorded a game-high 10 rebounds.
McCollum, Killion and Carr represented Holy Family on the CACC All-Tournament Team. Carr was also named the tournament's MVP. She averaged 17 points and six rebounds in the three-game tournament. Dominican was represendted by senior guard Dana Rotio and freshman guard Rachelle Sainten.
Guard Althea Chambers led the Chargers with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor and 5-of 6-at the stripe. She also corralled a team-best eight rebounds. Rotio added 14 points.
CACC Tournament Quarterfinals, Saturday, March 1
South #1 Holy Family 60, South #4 USP 48
South #2 Wilmington 77, South #3 Philadelphia 69
North #1 Dominican 78, North #4 Nyack 64
North #2 Bloomfield 72, North #3 Caldwell 59
CACC Tournament Semifinals, Wednesday, March 5
South #1 Holy Family 70, North #2 Bloomfield 47
North #1 Dominican 74, South #2 Wilmington 46
CACC Championship, Saturday, March 8
South #1 Holy Family 68, North #1 Dominican 52
All-Tournament Team
Catherine Carr, Holy Family-MVP
Kelly Killion, Holy Family
Christine McCollum, Holy Family
Dana Rotio, Dominican
Rachelle Sainten, Dominican
Shantae Barnes, Bloomfield
Nordia Henry, Wilmington
Ashley Webster, Philadelphia