Box Score PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia University women's basketball team will make its first appearance in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinals since 2009 after picking up a 69-51 win over Dominican (N.Y.) in a quarterfinal round match-up Saturday afternoon in the Gallagher Center.
Philadelphia, the southern division champion, improves to 20-7 overall—the team's 18th season with at least 20 wins under head coach Tom Shirley and the first in two season.
The Rams will take on Caldwell, the host school for the semifinals and final, in the semifinal round on Friday, March 7 at 5 p.m. in the Newman Center. Caldwell was a 70-65 winner of USciences on Saturday.
Philadelphia picked up a 91-80 road win over Caldwell in the only meeting between the teams on Feb. 1.
Dominican ends the season at 12-15.
Sophomore forwards Mary Newell (Lansdale, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) and Tori Arnao (Newtown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) both recorded a double-double in the win. Newell had 14 points and 11 rebounds while Arnao contributed 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Junior guard Monica Schacker (Doylestown, Pa./Germantown Academy) poured in a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Junior guard Najah Jacobs came off-the-bench to add 13 points.
A tremendous start on the defensive side of the ball helped the Rams get out to a 15-0 lead in the first 6:27. Philadelphia forced Dominican into 12 straight misses and four turnovers. Offensively, the Rams made six of their eight shots, led by six points from Morris.
Morris extended the cushion to 21-3 as she drained two free throws at the 11:18 mark. Philadelphia took its first 20-point lead on a Jacobs layup with 5:46 left in the half to make the score 32-12.
The Rams led at the break 44-16. In the opening 20 minutes, Philadelphia shot 56.2 percent (18-of-32) from the field, while Dominican was held to 20.7 percent (6-of-29) shooting.
Philadelphia took a game-high 61-27 lead on a 3-pointer by senior guard Megan Finn (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) with 10:52 left in the game.
KC Jentzen paced the Chargers with a game-high 17 points and seven rebounds. Deja Gabbidon added 13 points and seven rebounds.
