PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia University women's basketball head coach Tom Shirley's bid to join the 700-win club was put on hold as the Rams were defeated by visiting Bloomfield 63-58 in a battle of Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) division leaders Saturday afternoon in the Gallagher Cneter.

Shirley's second chance at the milestone will come next Saturday when the Rams travel to Dominican (N.Y.) for a CACC contest on Feb. 6 at 2 p.m.

Philadelphia (16-6, 12-1 CACC) led 50-43 with 5:56 left in the contest after Tori Arnao (Newtown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) came up with a steal and went down the court to hit a layup.

Deja McKenzie converted an old-fashioned three-point play on Bloomfield's (17-5, 13-0 CACC) next possession to spark an 18-5 Bear run over the next 4:59 to put the visitors up 61-55. The Bears were 5-for-5 from the field, including a pair of Ariel Wilson 3-pointers. Wilson scored eight of her team-high 18 points during the run.

The Rams—who had their 10-game winning streak snapped—got back within three on a Jessica Kaminski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) layup with eight seconds left in the contest. The Bears made two free throws to end the game.

Philadelphia rattled off 10 straight points, four coming from Bria Young (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter), to take a 10-4 lead midway through the first quarter. Bloomfield came back with 12 of the quarter's final 14 points to lead 16-12 at the break.

A Rachel Day (Horsham, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and an Arnao layup on consecutive trips down the floor brought the Rams within 18-17 at the 6:36 mark of the second quarter. After the Bears reestablished a six-point cushion, Arnao closed the gap to two (23-21) with 1:50 left before halftime.

Philadelphia shot 50.0 in the third quarter as the Rams outscored the Bears 17-10 to lead 43-40 after three. Young paced the Rams in the quarter with six points and three steals. Four of Young's points came during a 9-3 spurt that gave Philadelphia a quarter-high four-point lead (41-37).

Young finished the game with 16 points, five steals, four rebounds, and three assists for the Rams. Kaminski poured in a career-high 13 points, on 5-of-8 shooting, and added five rebounds and five steals.

Arnao had 11 points, nine rebounds, and three steals, while Day scored 11 points.

Tianna Smith had 17 points and McKenzie posted 13 points in a reserve role for the Bears.

Bloomfield