* The CACC final four is set after Tuesday night’s action and three of the four teams descending on Bobby Morgan Arena on Saturday will not have to travel far. A trio of Philadelphia teams comprise the CACC semifinals (host Sciences, Holy Family and Jefferson) and they’ll be joined by Post (Waterbury, Connecticut). Of the four quarterfinal contests last night, only one was saw a road team/lower seed emerge victorious, and that’s where the report begins…
* Jefferson extended their winning streak to ten games by squeezing out a hard-fought win at Dominican to lock up their CACC quarterfinal in Orangeburg, 73-70. Alynna Williams (19 points; 4-8 3FG) led the way for the Rams but the key scores came from Sabria Lytes (14 points, 6 boards; 6-8 FG) and Haley Meinel (12 points, 6 caroms). After Ashley Merritt (18 points; 6-12 3FG) knotted the game with her sixth triple of the night for DC at 68 with 2:27 left, Lytes drilled two foul shots (2:10) and Meinel cashed in a bucket (1:07) to make it a 72-68 game. Taylor Tomlinson (20 points, 9 rebounds; 10-14 FG) sliced the deficit to 72-70 with 54 ticks left and, following a Williams foul shot with 10 seconds on the clock, the Chargers had a chance to force overtime. Khay’la Latimer’s three-point attempt missed, though, ending DC’s season. Dominican used a 14-0 run to open the second period and held a 39-33 lead at the half but the Rams evened the tally at 45 midway through the third quarter (their first four hoops in the frame were triples) and it stayed close thereafter. Samantha McClutchy added 14 points (6-9 FG) and a dozen rebounds for Dominican, which won the glass battle (47-33) but committed seven more turnovers (16-9), leading to a 13-4 Rams edge in points-off-mistakes. Jefferson, one of four teams in the region boasting a ten-or-more-game winning streak, will face another one of those outfits, Sciences, in the CACC semifinals on Saturday. Ironically, it also happens to be a rematch of last season’s title tilt.
* Speaking of the Devils, the University of the Sciences waxed Nyack in their quarterfinal game, 94-59, to secure their twentieth win in succession. A three-point deluge from the Devils that buried Nyack, as Sciences went an absurd 22-39 from deep and won all four quarters comfortably. Things started in that vein with the Devils going 8-10 from long-distance in the first period (11-14 overall), establishing a solid 30-17 working margin. They led 50-35 at the intermission and continued to build the margin (67-44) after three frames, sending the Warriors home for good on a seven-game slide. Newly-minted CACC Player of the Year Irisa Ye (22 points, 5 assists; 8-10 FG, 4-5 3FG), Jess Huber (22 points, 6 assists; 6-11 3FG) and Jordan Vitelli (12 points, 6 boards; 4-10 3FG) topped a Sciences stat sheet that showed 54% shooting, including 11-22 inside the arc. Jasmine Cruse (20 points, 9 caroms), Kyla Given and Sarah Wilson (11 points each) led the way for the Warriors, who shot only 33% overall and made just 3-12 from deep. Nyack did fare well at the line (18-23; Sciences 6-8 FT) but it was little consolation, and the Devils will move on to host duties for the CACC final four and a date with Jefferson on Saturday.
* The CACC North Division’s top seed Post prevailed in a low-scoring clash against Chestnut Hill, 51-37, their first ever tournament win in the loop. The Eagles scored the last basket of the first period to go ahead, 10-8, and opened the second quarter with an 11-0 binge to extend the margin to 21-8 (5:38), and they never looked back. A 27-18 halftime edge mushroomed to 45-26 after three stanzas (thanks in part to a 7-0 run in the middle of the third quarter) and the Griffins, who struggled to score, were unable to mount a comeback. Sha’Raya Haines (15 points), Angelica Flores (13 points) and Hannah Benec (12 points) racked up 40 of the 51 Post points while Tai Pagan (16 rebounds) helped the hosts dominate the glass (45-26). Lauren Crim (11 points) and Cassie Sebold (10 points) led the CHC attack but they closed the campaign with a four-game slide. Post, who did get to the line more often (14-24 FT) than the Griffins (5-7 FT), will face Holy Family in the other CACC semifinal on Saturday.
* Holy Family cruised to a 73-37 win in their CACC quarterfinal contest over Caldwell, leading by as many as 37 points in the fourth quarter before settling for the final margin. The Tigers were paced by the trio of Mia Ehling (19 points; 8-14 FG, 3-6 3FG), Elizabeth Radley (15 points, 9 boards; 6-11 FG) and CACC Rookie of the Year Moe Moore (14 points, 9 rebounds; 6-11 FG), as they shot 49% from the field, ruled the boards (46-33) and dominated in the paint (38-14). HFU scored the last fifteen points of the second period to claim a 32-15 lead at the interval, forcing the Cougars to miss their last eleven shots of the quarter. The spree continued into the second half and extended to 27-2 (a 12-2 surge to start the third frame), the ensuing 44-17 lead far more than the Cougars could recover from. No Caldwell player reached double digits (Paula Dits had nine points) as they shot only 23% as a unit. Holy Family, a nine-time CACC playoff champion, will face Post (in their first CACC semifinal) in the next round on their quest for a first crown since 2015.