* The CACC regular season ended on Saturday and with it, the tournament matchups are set. In the ECC, Bridgeport claimed the final playoff spot thanks to a victory and that’s where the report begins…
* A huge fourth quarter did the trick for Bridgeport in their 76-62 win over Mercy and, coupled with UDC’s loss, the Purple Knights annexed the last playoff spot in the ECC. A back-and-forth affair (eight ties and nine lead changes) was in Mercy’s hands after the Mavericks enjoyed a big third period. Mercy trailed 37-28 at the half but nearly doubled their output in the next frame, closing the period on a Kellie Mudd (17 points) trey to take a 55-53 lead. Katie Wall (14 points) made it 57-53 to start the fourth quarter but UB locked down defensively and held the Mavericks to only five more points. Meanwhile, an 11-3 run gave the Purple Knights the lead for good (64-60, 4:37). Abigail Collier (12 points) netted Mercy’s last points of the campaign to make it 64-62 but Bridgeport ended with a 12-0 bang. Gracen Kerr (20 points) converted a three-point play with about four minutes left to make it 67-62 and UB made nine free throws in the remaining time to salt the game away. Samirah Henderson (21 points, 7 boards) and Judit Valls Dellavalle (10 points, 13 caroms) also filled key roles for UB, which shot better than Mercy (44%-34%) and made inroads at the line (21-23; Mercy 8-11 FT), bolstered by the last few minutes. Bridgeport will be on the road against either Molloy or New York Tech in the ECC’s first round on Wednesday. (Roberts Wesleyan, the #5 seed, will visit the other one).
* St. Thomas Aquinas eliminated the University of the District of Columbia from ECC playoff contention with a 66-49 decision and in the process secured a first round bye. The Spartans can claim a share of the regular season crown with Daemen should the Wildcats lose on Sunday. STAC never trailed here and led 38-22 at the half. An 11-2 binge to shutter the third frame made it a 58-32 margin and the Firebirds has no avenue back into it. Ruth Adams (24 points, 7 boards; 10-19 FG) and Melissa Sadler (17 points) topped the Spartans scoring while Alexus King (13 points) and Tyra Coombs (10 points) led the UDC effort. St. Thomas Aquinas shined from the floor (51%-38% FG), and at the stripe (14-20; UDC 7-8 FT) on the way to victory and will wait until a week from today to partake in the ECC semifinals. Daemen will join them there but their seeding (#1 and #2) will be decided by tomorrow’s final ECC games, as will New York Tech and Molloy’s (#3 and #4).
* Post ended their CACC campaign with an impressive late rally, out-scoring Concordia 18-1 over the final 5:35 to snag a 71-62 win. The CACC North top seed trailed by as many as eleven points (52-41) late in the third quarter and still faced a 61-53 deficit after Clipper Shanice Graves (11 points, 7 rebounds) sank a triple with 5:57 to go. That proved to be the last field goal of the season for Concordia, as they went 0-10 the rest of the game with three turnovers. An 8-0 burst tied the contest at 61 for the Eagles and after a Clipper free throw, Post scored the last ten points. Angelica Flores (2:04) put Post ahead to stay (64-62) and a Taylor Williams (18 points, 9 rebounds) trey made it 67-62 with 1:26 to go, all but assuring the Eagles of the result. Sha’Raya Haines (21 points, 7 caroms) led the Post scoring as they more than doubled Concordia from deep (9-4 in 3FG’s) and won the glass, 46-39. Christina Brown (13 points) and Jaayden Lafontant (10 points, 7 rebounds) reached double figures for Concordia as they wrap their season up with three straight setbacks. Post will host Chestnut Hill in Tuesday’s CACC quarterfinals.
* Dominican also put together a decisive fourth quarter as they pushed by Nyack, 64-53. Despite the defeat, the Warriors advance to the CACC playoffs and will visit the University of the Sciences on Tuesday. Nyack led a close clash 36-35 after three periods but the Chargers opened the last frame with a 9-0 surge to go ahead for keeps (44-36, 6:57). Another run, this time 8-0, made it a 56-43 game at the 2:46 mark and proved to be enough to get the job done for DC. Taylor Tomlinson (12 points) and Khay’la Latimer (11 points 8 boards) led a balanced Charger stat sheet while Kyla Given (15 points, 7 boards) and Jenissa Encarnacion (12 points) did the work for Nyack. Dominican, who will host defending CACC champion Jefferson in the quarterfinals, was superior off the boards (40-32) and made the most of an 18-11 turnover differential, out-scoring Nyack in points-off-TO’s, 20-8.
* Bloomfield ends the season with back-to-back wins thanks to a 72-64 success over Caldwell, also courtesy of a terrific fourth quarter. The Bears led 45-35 at the break but the Cougars rallied with a 21-3 spree that spanned the third and fourth quarters, earning a 56-51 lead with 8:38 left. Bloomfield followed that with a killer 14-2 run, going ahead 65-58 at the 2:32 mark and keeping Caldwell at bay the rest of the way. DaShanique Ruffin (21 points, 9 boards; 8-12 FG, 5-6 FT) was excellent for the Bears and she had solid help from Siani Smith (15 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and Jaylah Bennett (13 points; 5-9 FG, 3-6 3FG). Paula Dits (17 points, 14 rebounds), Tina Lebron (14 points) and Alessia Smaldone (13 points) provided the pop for the Cougars, who were shaded by Bloomfield from the field (46%-38% FG) and on the backboards (42-33). Even with the loss, Caldwell will move on to the CACC tournament, visiting Holy Family on Tuesday.
* Alynna Williams (32 points; 13-25 FG, 6-12 3FG) exploded for another massive game to lead Jefferson to a 72-59 win over local rival Holy Family and the Rams will enter CACC tournament play with a nine-game win streak. Jefferson never trailed, rolling up leads of 18-13, 35-22 and 57-37 at the regular checkpoints. The margin grew to 61-37 before the Tigers made a modest rally but the outcome had long since been decided. Haley Meinel (18 points, 7 steals, 5 assists; 8-14 FG) supplied quality depth for the Rams as they feasted on HFU turnovers (26-11; leading to a 35-12 plus in points-off-mistakes). Anjelia Hayes and Mia Ehling (12 points each) fronted a Tigers effort that did at least register a +11 off the glass (41-30).
* The other Philadelphia scrap saw CACC South kingpin the University of the Sciences repel Chestnut Hill, 61-53, nailing down their nineteenth straight win, a program record. Irisa Ye (28 points; 8-19 FG, 5-10 3FG, 7-8 FT) was the star for the Devils as they scored the first seven points and never lost the lead. The Griffins stayed in touch and pulled within 47-44 (8:13) and 53-48 (2:30) in the late going but were unable to make up the entire deficit and lost their third consecutive outing. Ye scored four points in a 6-0 run that put the game to bed for the Devils (59-48, 1:08). Taylor Hamm (13 points) and Jordan Vitelli (12 points) hit double digits for a Sciences attack that didn’t shoot well (32%) but forced 15 more turnovers (21-6) and flipped that into a 28-6 bulge in points-off-turnovers. Lauren Crim (14 points), Bri Hewlett (11 points, 9 rebounds) and Leah Miller (10 points) were the pick of the lot for Chestnut Hill.
* Senior Amanda McGrogan went off for a career-best 32 points (14-19 FG, 4-6 FT), 11 assists and 6 boards to lead Goldey-Beacom to a 73-70 win over Wilmington to wrap up the season for both Delaware teams in the region. Alexis Harrison (13 points, 11 boards) and Sarah Round (11 points) added depth for the Lightning as they used a key 8-0 fourth quarter run to take the lead for good. Until than a close contest (eight ties and eight lead changes) was up for grabs with the Wildcats ahead 68-65 with 2:41 left. McGrogan had five points in the aforementioned burst that gave GBC a 73-68 edge with 38 seconds left. LaShyra Williams (who ended her career with a 29-point gem) cut the gap to 73-70 with :27 left but missed a potential game-tying triple with 16 ticks left. Sabreen Muslim (12 points, 11 boards) double-doubled for the Wildcats in support of Williams. Team stats were understandably tight but GBC did shoot better that Wilmington (54%-45%), the major differential between the squads.
* Georgian Court defeated Felician, 96-84, to put the bow on the season for both teams. Jada Atchison (24 points, 6 rebounds) and Savawn Hughes (19 points) were among four double figure scorers for the Lions as they bolted to a 55-30 halftime advantage and led by as many as 31 points (73-42). The Golden Falcons closed the deficit a bit (a 15-4 flurry to end the game made it more palatable) but they were too far in the hole to recover. Tiara Mahorn’s career-best 31 points (10-19 FG, 10-10) and dozen rebounds were a bright spot for Felician while Haylee Ramirez dropped in 14 points and dished five assists in support. GCU was by far the better shooting combine from the floor (51%-38% FG), negating Felician’s proficiency (27-30 FT) at the stripe.