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Devils Come Up Short in CACC Quarterfinals
Colleen Christian led all scorers with 18 points but the University of the Sciences women's basketball team fell short in its bid for a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament title with a 57-54 loss to Goldey-Beacom College in the CACC quarterfinals at the Bobby Morgan Arena in Philadelphia.
The Devils record falls to 21-6 and their season is complete unless the team receives an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament while Goldey-Beacom improves to 16-11 and advances to the semi-finals to face the top seed in the CACC north- Bloomfield College.
Christian (Central Bucks South HS/Warrington, Pa.) connected on seven of 12 shots from the field, including four three-point field goals to account for her game-high 18 points. Her four three-point goals give her 51 on the season, becoming just the third women's basketball player in program history (and the first since 2003) to make 50 or more three-point field goals in a season. Joining Christian in double figures were Caitlin Shaw (Monmouth Regional HS/Eatontown, N.J.) and Becca Ruggear (Oxford Area HS/Oxford, Pa.) with 10 points apiece. Shaw also grabbed 11 rebounds to lead all players and record her 11th double-double this season. Melissa Rotz (Central Dauphin HS/Harrisburg, Pa.) had a game-high five assists.
Jacinda Jones led the Lightning with 17 points and three assists while Devonne Richardson added 15 and Irene Hudson ten. Arielle Alford had nine rebounds.
The Devils struggled mightily from the free throw line, making just five of 14 shots in the game while the Lightning made 17 of 22. Sciences had the better shooting percentage (38.9% to 30.5%) and made three more 'threes' than their opponent (7-4) but were outrebounded 46-36, primarily on the offensive glass where the Lightning held a 17-9 advantage which translated into eight more second chance points than the Devils (14-6).
The Devils played from behind most of the game with the Lightning jumping out ot an early 12-4 lead before the Devils ran off 12 straight to lead 16-12. GBC countered with eight straight to retake the lead and went into the lockerroom leading by four 24-20.
In the second half, the Lightning increased the bulge to seven before five straight points from the home squad closed the gap to two 38-36 at the 11:50 mark. The Lightning lead stayed within four points until Christian tied the game with a 3-ball at the 5:10 mark, 44-44. Free Throws broke the score and GBC was back up by three before another game-tying triple (this one from Rotz) knotted the score again at 47. This pattern would repeat two more times with Alyssa Hamm's (Academy Park HS/Sharon Hill, Pa.) three-pointer knotting the score at 50-50 with 1:04 left and Christian hitting another with just 11.8 seconds left to even things at 54-54. One second later the Devils were called for an untimely foul putting Janae Weldon on the line. Weldon sank one of two to break the tie 55-54 giving the Devils a chance but they turned the ball over. Weldon sank two more free throws with 2.0 left on the clock to give the Lightning a three-point lead 57-54. The Devils could not get off a final shot and the Lightning had their upset victory.
