Courtesy of Kirk Reed, Assistant Commissioner of the CACC

New Haven, CT (2/28/09)  Holy Family University and Dominican College have secured the top seeds for the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Basketball Tournament, which is set to begin with quarterfinal action on Monday, March 2. Holy Family is aiming for its third straight CACC Tournament Championship.

Holy Family is the top overall seed for the tournament after winning the South Division with a perfect 18-0 record and a 25-4 overall mark. The Tigers, who are ranked 25^th in the nation, have gone undefeated in regular-season conference play in each of the last four seasons. The Tigers have won 85 straight games against CACC competition and have captured the last two CACC Tournament championships. The Tigers lead the nation in scoring defense and allow only 46.6 points per-game, and they also hold opponents to 32.5-percent shooting from the field, which stands fifth nationally. Sophomore forward Catherine Carr leads Holy Family in scoring with an average of 15.3 points per-game, which ranks seventh in the CACC. Junior center Christine McCollum leads the squad in rebounding and ranks ninth in the CACC with an average of 8.1 boards per-contest. Holy Family enters the tournament riding a 19-game win streak. The Tigers will face Wilmington University in the opening round of the tournament on Monday at 7:00 pm.

Wilmington, the fourth seed in the South Division, is led by junior forward Amelia Simmons. Simmons ranks among league leader in numerous categories, including points per-game (first, 19.6), rebounds (sixth, 8.8), field-goal percentage (fourth, .482), free-throw percentage (T-9^th, .797) and blocked shots (eighth, 1.15). The Wildcats went 11-7 in conference play and 16-11 overall this season.

Dominican won the North Division regular-season championship with a 13-4 conference mark and a 16-11 overall record. The Chargers will be led by senior guard Althea Chambers, who stands third in the CACC with an average of 17.7 ppg and 16^th with 6.9 rebounds per-game. Junior forward Adele Laskowski stands ninth in the CACC in scoring at 14.9 ppg.  As a team, the Chargers rank first in the conference in steals (10.41), third in assists (13.44), fourth in free-throw shooting (.737) and fifth in scoring offense (65.0), and field-goal percentage defense (.386). The Chargers advanced to last season's CACC Championship game before falling to Holy Family.  Dominican will host Nyack in the quarterfinal round on Monday at 7:00 pm.

Nyack earned the fourth seed in the North Division with a 7-10 record along with a 14-12 overall mark. Sophomore forward Victoria Sweet leads the Warriors in scoring and ranks 10^th in the conference with an average of 14.1 ppg, while senior guard Kelsy McIntosh and junior forward Shelly Yount toss in 12.9 and 12.2 ppg, respectively. Sweet also ranks fourth in the CACC with an average of 9.3 rebounds per-contest and junior Jasmine Minter leads the league in assists (5.85). Dominican swept Nyack in the regular-season, including a 68-64 overtime win at home on Jan. 27.

Philadelphia earned the second seed in the South Division after earning a win over Caldwell College on Friday evening in the last regular-season game of the season. The Lady Rams went 13-5 in conference play and 18-9 overall. The team is led by junior center Jessica Romano, who averages 18.3 points and 11.0 rebounds to rank second and first in the CACC. Romano also shoots 46.3-percent from the field and 83.9-percent from the charity stripe to rank sixth and fifth in the conference, respectively.  Senior guard Amanda Brennan scores 14.1 ppg to rank 11^th in the conference and she paces the CACC in free-throw percentage with 90.5-percent accuracy. The Lady Rams will face the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia at 7 pm on Monday.

The Devils finished just one game behind Philadelphia in the CACC standings with a 12-6 record and a 15-12 overall mark. USP won six of its final seven conference games of the regular-season, including a 53-49 triumph at Philadelphia on Feb. 12. Junior center Erin Chesnavich ranks among league leaders in numerous categories. She ranks sixth in scoring (16.2), third in rebounds (9.5), first in field-goal percentage (.562), seventh in free-throw percentage (.813) and seventh in blocks (1.17).

The other game in the North Division pits second seed Bloomfield College against No. 3 Caldwell. The Deacons swept the Cougars in two regular-season meetings, including a 67-66 home victory on Feb. 17 in a game that BC won on a last-second field-goal by Alexis Sweeney. Bloomfield wins games with a team effort, as eight players average at least 5.0 ppg, but none rank in the top 15 in the CACC. BC is led by sophomore Tiffany McDaniel and her 12.2 ppg and 9.1 rpg.

Caldwell is led by senior forward Mackenzie Lynch, sophomore guard Kirsty Leedham and freshman Kaitlyn Lambert. Lynch ranks fourth in the CACC in points (16.8) and second in rebounding (11.0), while Leedham is fifth in scoring with 16.6 ppg while standing third with 2.19 three-pointers made per-game. Lambert adds 11.2 ppg and ranks 11^th in the CACC with a .791 free-throw percentage.

The complete schedule for the 2008-09 CACC Tournament is below. The quarterfinal round is being hosted on campus sites, and the semi-final round and championship game will be hosted by Philadelphia University on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7.

2008-09 CACC Women's Basketball Tournament

Quarterfinals - Tuesday, March 2

N#4 Nyack at N#1 Dominican - 7:00 pm

N#3 Caldwell at N#2 Bloomfield - 7:00 pm

S#4 Wilmington at S#1 Holy Family - 7:00 pm

S#3 USP at S#2 Philadelphia - 7:00 pm

Semi-Finals - Friday, March 6 at Philadelphia University

TBA - 12:00 pm

TBA - 2:00 pm

Championship Game - Saturday, March 7

TBA - 4:00 pm