* Saturday was a chaotic one in the region with both the CACC and ECC semifinals tossing up lower seeds winning (three of the four, in fact). The NCAA picture is deeply muddled now and the Sunday title games in both leagues have a lot on the line for a variety of interested parties. In any case, the recap starts in University City, where two lower seeds prevailed…
* The CACC championship game rematch ended with the same result this time around (albeit in the semifinals), as Jefferson dumped the host University of the Sciences out of the tournament with a 69-51 decision. The setback means the Devils, surely a lock for the NCAA field, saw their twenty-game win streak come to an end. The Rams, meanwhile, have won eleven in a row (tying Stonehill for the current regional high) and are one-step away from (a) defending the crown and (b) reaching the NCAA field. A back-and-forth first half ended with Jefferson holding a 30-28 lead but they surged in the third period and led 47-34 once it was finished. The Rams scored the first five points of the frame (35-28) and kept Sciences in check at the other end, slowly building the lead. The Devils were unable to find any answers and never got the deficit under double digits in the last quarter. Sabria Lytes (19 points, 8 rebounds; 6-12 FG, 7-10 FT) was at the forefront of the Rams attack with Haley Meinel (17 points, 6 boards; 7-11 FG) and Alynna Williams (10 points) adding strong support. The Rams won numerous categories, including shooting (45%-30% FG), three-point efficiency (Jefferson 4-8; Sciences 7-34 3FG) and rebounds (43-35), to highlight their success. Irisa Ye (23 points, 10 boards; 10-23 FG), Jordan Vitelli (11 points) and Jess Huber (10 points) topped the Devils effort but their two-point shooting (12-30 FG) was only slightly better than their three-point accuracy and they sustained the program's worst home loss in more than seven years (December 30, 2012, a 70-45 loss to Kutztown). Sciences may well be locked into the #3 NCAA tournament seed as a result of this loss but will have to wait until tomorrow night to see where the chips fall. Jefferson, trying for back-to-back CACC crowns for the first time ever tomorrow, will face another local foe in a winner-take-all contest.
* That local foe will be Holy Family, which pushed past Post in the other semifinal, 59-50. This was a hard-fought clash, which saw the Tigers finish the first half on an 8-0 run to grab a lead (31-27) they didn’t relinquish. They did stretch it out to 36-29 midway through the third period, only to see the Eagles close the gap to 38-36 by the end of the quarter. HFU netted the first six points of the last frame, capped by a Moe Moore (14 points, 12 caroms) three-point play, to extend the margin to 44-36, and eventually widened it to ten points three times in the last five minutes, keeping Post at bay all the way. Mia Ehling (17 points; 6-9 FG, 3-5 3FG) and Elizabeth Radley (9 points, 14 boards) joined Moore in the spotlight for Holy Family, who shot better than Post (39%-32%) and handled the ball much more effectively (assist/turnover ratio of 16/10 to Post’s 8/12 totals). Sha’Raya Haines (24 points) led the Post scoring but she shot 9-32 from the field to get there while Tai Pagan (13 points, 10 boards) submitted a double-double in support. The Eagles' season comes to close after a program-record 22-win campaign but Holy Family moves on, ensuring that the CACC crown will reside in Philadelphia for the 17th time in the last 21 years. The Tigers, who have never lost to the Eagles (27-0) and will be in search of their first league crown since 2015, split a pair of games with Jefferson this season.
* The ECC wasn’t short of drama, either, with Molloy, the #4 seed, rallying to knock out top seed St. Thomas Aquinas, 66-60. The Lions, looking for their third ECC title (and their first since 2017), rode the stellar play of Kadijah Dickson (21 points, 8 boards, 5 assists; 11-12 FT) and Gabriella Aspuru (16 points, 6 rebounds) to their eighth straight win. For the Spartans, who face a nervous wait until tomorrow for a possible NCAA at-large bid, their best came out in the second period (24-5) but otherwise were stifled by Molloy. A solid start gave the Lions a 19-12 edge after one quarter but STAC dominated the second period, using 10-0 and 12-0 runs to create a 36-24 halftime lead. The Spartans went 7-15 from the field in that frame and held Molloy to 2-7 shooting and a dozen turnovers, yet could not sustain it. Molloy responded by registering the first nine points of the second half (36-33) and eventually forced ties at 38 and 40 before STAC closed the third quarter on top, 47-44. Aspuru gave Molloy the lead for good with 5:56 left (52-51) with a free throw but the Spartans were right there with 3:24 to go after an Alexa Huertas (13 points) triple, down 58-57. Dickson scored the next two hoops for Molloy (62-57) but a pair of Emily Preston (14 points; 9 rebounds, all of the offensive variety) freebies cut the deficit to 62-59 with 1:03 left. Another Molloy turnover (they committed 26) gave Huertas a chance to tie but she missed a triple with 27 ticks left and Dickson iced the game with two FTs at the :11 mark. The Lions shot more accurately (47%-29% FG) and were more efficient from deep (7-11; STAC 5-21 3FG), negating all the TO’s (STAC had 16 of their own) to a large extent. The Lions took a big step toward a possible NCAA at-large bid with the victory but would like to win the ECC crown and attached automatic bid tomorrow just to be sure.
* Their opponent in the ECC title tilt will be #2 seed Daemen, the most convincing winner of the day. The Wildcats, hoping to annex their first league championship, pulled away from New York Tech (the #3 seed) in the second half to nail down a 76-56 win and end the Bears' season. Tiara Filbert (20 points; 8-13 FG, 2-3 3FG), Katie Titus (16 points, 14 boards) and Ashli Jeune (15 points) topped the stat sheet for Daemen, which got off to a fast start by scoring the first seven points. NY Tech eventually tied the match at 13 but by the half, the Wildcats surged to a 35-25 lead. Shalie Frierson (20 points) quickly brought the Bears within 35-28 with an early third period trey but that was the signal for Daemen to ignite. A 16-2 bomb by the Wildcats over a five-minute span turned the contest from close into a blowout (51-30, 5:50). The margin never fell below a dozen thereafter, sending Daemen to the championship game. Ketsia Athias (11 points) was the only other Bear in double figures as they were out-shot (41%-36%), beaten on the glass (42-32) and bettered from three-point land (12-8) by Daemen. The Wildcats are another team on the NCAA bubble and will attempt to gain the automatic bid against Molloy (who they split with this season) tomorrow.