NYACK COLLEGE SHOCKS HOLY FAMILY UNIVERSITY IN CACC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
CALDWELL, N.J. (March 6, 2010) - Nyack College shocked top overall seed Holy Family University tonight in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Basketball Tournament championship game by a score of 45-43. The Warriors made an improbable comeback after falling behind 19-0 to start the contest, finally scoring a bucket with 9:19 left in the first half. The loss snaps a 28-game win streak for Holy Family, the 14th-ranked team in the country.
With the win, the Warriors have claimed the CACC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament. The field for the tournament will be selected Sunday evening.
Nyack went 0-for-10 from the field and committed six turnovers in the first 10 minutes of action to fall behind by the 19-0 count. But Nyack (21-11) started chipping away at the deficit and went into halftime down a manageable 11 points, 25-14.
Holy Family (28-2) went cold from the field in the second half, shooting just 17.1-percent (6-for-35), including 0-for-6 from long range, to allow Nyack to storm back into the game. Nyack cut the lead to three (31-28) with 11:44 remaining, then to one (38-37) with 7:39 on the clock. The Warriors were finally able to take their first lead on a three-pointer by Bobbi Van Fleet with 6:09 left. It was Van Fleet's only basket of the game.
Catherine Carr's three-point play put Holy Family back on top with 2:08 left, but Jasmine Minter responded with a jumper to give Nyack a 44-43 lead with 1:19 left. Minter went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line with 27 seconds left, giving Holy Family one last chance to win, or send the game to overtime. Carr missed a jumper with four seconds left and Minter grabbed the rebound as the buzzer sounded, setting off a raucous celebration at Caldwell College's George R. Newman Center.
Minter was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player after recording 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the championship game. Carr led Holy Family with 17 points and eight rebounds.
2009-10 CACC Women's Basketball Tournament
Quarter-Finals - Tuesday, March 2
N#1 Nyack 81, N#4 Caldwell 71
N#2 Dominican 81, N#3 Bloomfield 68
S#1 Holy Family 73, S#4 Wilmington 47
S#3 Goldey-Beacom 72, S#2 Philadelphia 64
Semi-Finals - Friday, March 5 at
Caldwell College
Holy Family 75, Dominican 42
Nyack 71, Goldey-Beacom 55
Championship Game - Saturday, March 6 at
Caldwell College
Nyack 45, Holy Family 43
All-Tournament Team
Jasmine Minter, Nyack - MVP
Victoria Sweet, Nyack
Shelly Young, Nyack
Catherine Carr, Holy Family
Christine McCollum, Holy Family
Rachelle Sainten, Dominican
Janae Weldon, Goldey-Beacom
Torey Jones, Caldwell