Philadelphia, Pa. - The Holy Family University women's basketball team is one step closer to capturing the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) title after defeating Caldwell College, 82-63, in the conference semifinals Friday afternoon at the Campus Center.  

Holy Family, ranked 15th in the recent USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division II National Top-25 Coaches' Poll and first in the NCAA Division II East Region, improves to 23-3 overall and in the process extends its season-long winning streak to 13 games.  Caldwell is now 21-6 overall.

Senior Catherine Carr (Bernardsville, N.J./Bernards) entered today's game only eight points away from breaking Debbie Schopfer's (1987-1991) 20-year scoring record of 1,928-career points. She then finished the game as the team's all-team leading scorer in program history with 1,937-career points.  With a three-pointer at the 15:15 mark of the first half Carr surpassed Schopfer and rewrote the history books.  She finished the game with 16 points.  

Graduate student Samantha Thompson (Southampton, Pa./St. Basils) scored a team-high 21 points after knocking down a game-best five three-pointers.  One of the conference's most accurate three-point shooters this season, Thompson finished 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.  Sophomore Erin Mann (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) finished with 12 points to go along with eight rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.

Junior Lauren Peters (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) recorded her first double-double of the season with ten points and ten rebounds.  Peters also dished out three assists and collected a pair of steals.  Senior Lindsey Tennett (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) also finished in double-figures as she tallied ten points off the bench for the Tigers.  

For Caldwell, sophomore Torey Jones scored a game-high 26 points to lead the way offensively for the Cougars.  Jones scored 22 of her 26 points in the first half as she shot 8-of-16 from the field in the first stanza.  She also knocked down four three-pointers to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Senior Kirsty Leedham finished with 16 points, while freshman Jeanette Anderson contributed nine points off the bench to go along with nine rebounds.

Holy Family led from beginning to end as the Tigers opened the game on an 10-0 run capped by a two-point basket by Thompson at the 17:41 mark.  Caldwell quickly responded and cut the Holy Family lead in half to make the score 10-5 on its next two possessions.

Later in the half, Holy Family increased its lead to double-figures again after Peters scored a layup to make the score 29-19 in favor of the home team with 9:15 left til halftime.  The Tigers eventually swelled its lead to 14 points entering halftime when Thompson drained one of her five three-pointers as time expired in the first half.  Holy Family entered the half with a 47-33 advantage.

In the second half, Holy Family continued to roll as the Tigers held on to their double-digit lead throughout the half.  Holy Family at one point led by as many as 28 points late in the second stanza at the 4:49 mark.

Holy Family shot 45.3-percent from the field for the game, including 53.3 percent in the first half.  The Tigers also finished the game 8-of-17 from beyond the arc for a 47.1-percent shooting percentage from three.  

Caldwell was limited to only 33.8-percent shooting from the field and 24.0 from beyond the arc throughout the game.

Holy Family will host Goldey-Beacom College in the CACC Championship Final on Saturday, March 5.  Game time is slated for 4 p.m.  Goldey-Beacom defeated Bloomfield College in the other semifinal match by the score of 62-57.  

Prior to its 13 game-winning streak, Holy Family's last loss was by Goldey-Beacom back on Jan. 13 as the Lightning defeated the Tigers, 64-51, which ended their NCAA Division II record of consecutive regular season conference victories at 110.