* Saturday yielded one league title and a pair of semifinal clashes in another loop. The rundown starts in the CACC, where a champion was crowned...
* Philadelphia led from start-to-finish to nail down the CACC championship over Bloomfield, 52-46, in a meeting of the two divisional winners. Mary Newell (11 points) was named tournament Most Outstanding Player and she had penty of help from the likes of Jessica Kaminski (14 points, 9 boards) and Bria Young (10 points). The Rams, who will enter the NCAA tournament on a nine-game winning streak, scored the first five points of the contest and led by a 17-7 count after one period. The Bears trailed by as many as 13 points (29-16) before a late Tianna Smith (14 points) three-pointer cut the gap to 29-19 at halftime. Bloomfield kept the momentum after the restart with an 8-0 burst (29-27) and were still within a pair (34-32) before the Rams broke out. An 8-0 spalsh to close the quarter, started by a Rachel Day triple, gave Philadelphia a 42-32 and they stayed in control. BC gave it a good try, slicing the deficit to 50-46 in the final minute of play, yet they couldn't get any closer. Ariel Wilson (16 points) topped the Bears attack but they had shooting issues (29% FG, 9-31 3FG) and didn't get to the line often (3-7 FT), denting any comeback hopes. The Rams shot 43% overall and hit 12-19 at the line to bolster their case. Bloomfield, with a program-record 24 wins on their resume, will hope to snare an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament when the field is revealed tomorrow night.
* Samantha Courtney dominated the game (29 points, 8 boards, 11-14 FG, 7-9 FT) as Roberts Wesleyan dumped #1 seed NYIT out of the ECC tournament at the semifinal stage, 67-58. The Redhawks, in their first ECC festival, assumed the lead for good midway through the third period and held on in a close game throughout (8 ties, 8 lead changes). The contest was even after each of the first two quarters (13-13, 27-27) and tied at 34 after a Julie Williams (11 points) hoop with 6:36 to play in the third period. Courtney's three-point play (5:52) snapped the deadlock and later on a 6-0 run helped the Redhawks take a 47-39 edge. The Bears stayed in touch and drew within a pair (53-51) with 4:57 to go thanks to a Nina Vukosavljevic (18 points, 6 assists) trey but that proved to be their last gasp, as RWC rolled up a 10-2 binge in response (63-53, :53) to salt the game away. Necedah James (14 points, 5 assists) and Brooke Fields (13 points) were also solid for the 4th-seeded Redhawks while Shannon Duer (10 points, 16 rebounds) played well for NYIT. The Redhawks had the whip hand in shooting (43%-32% FG) and at the line (18-26; NYIT 8-13 FT) to help their effort. NYIT has a good chance at an at-large NCAA tourney bid while RWC can claim the ECC's automatic bid with a victory in tomorrow's title game.
* Queens, the #2 seed, will be RWC's foe after the Knights wiped out the host team, the University of the District of Columbia, in the other semifinal, 82-56. The defending ECC champions led all the way, won all four quarters and benefitted from a career-game by Kristen Korzevinski (30 points, 12-16 FG, 6-8 FT). QC did their business early, using a 12-0 sortie in the middle of the first quarter to stake themselves to a 27-13 lead after one frame. The Firebirds, the #3 seed, had little in the manner of a counter and trailed 44-30 at the interval. It was a 20-point gap after three periods (62-42), rendering the fourth quarter mainly academic. Madison Rowland (18 points, 14 boards, 9 assists) nearly collected a triple double in support of Korzevinski while Merrick Rowland added 11 points. Myla Somerville (12 points, 5 boards), Iman Scott (11 points) and Taj Baldwin-Kollore (10 points) led the UDC scoring but their poor shooting (30% FG, 1-15 3FG) was a killer. Queens shot 46% at the other end and racked up a sweet 23/11 assist/turnover ratio as their bid for back-to-back crowns lives on. Meanwhile, UDC's hopes for an at-large NCAA bid are firmly on the proverbial bubble.