Philadelphia, Pa. - Junior Janae Weldon scored a game-high 30 points to lead Goldey-Beacom College to a 66-54 victory in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship Final over the Holy Family University women's basketball team at the Campus Center Saturday evening.

Holy Family, ranked 15th in the recent USA Today/ESPN Division II National Top-25 Coaches' Poll and first in the NCAA Division II East Region, is now 23-4 overall, while Goldey-Beacom improves to 17-11.  With the victory, the Lightning earned the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament.

Senior Meghan Gibson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) scored a team-high 14 points to lead the Holy Family offense.  Gibson knocked down three three-pointers and also tallied a pair of steals.  Sophomore Erin Mann (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) finished with 13 points and one rebound shy of a double-double as she grabbed nine boards.  Mann also shot 90-percent from the free throw line as she converted 9-of-10 attempts.

Senior Lindsey Tennett (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) contributed ten points and eight rebounds off the bench, while fellow classmate Catherine Carr (Bernardsville, N.J./Bernards) added nine points to go along with four rebounds and five assists.  Both Carr and Tennett were named to the CACC All-Tournament team for their performances throughout the tournament.

For Goldey-Beacom, Weldon was named the tournament's most valuable player as she led the way for the Lightning with 30 points after shooting 9-of-16 from the field, including 5-of-12 from beyond the arc.  Sophomore Devonne Richardson tallied ten points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds in which 15 were defensive boards.  Richardson, along with junior Jacinda Jones, were named to the All-Tournament team with Weldon.

The first half was a back and forth battle between both teams as the half saw ten different lead changes and eight ties.  Goldey-Beacom had the biggest lead of the half after Weldon knocked down one of her four first half three-pointers to give the Lightning a six point advantage by the score of 12-6 at the 16:29 mark.

However, as the half went on and ended, Holy Family was the team leading entering the locker rooms at halftime by the score of 30-28.  Both teams combined for 11 three-pointers in the half as Holy Family shot 5-of-13 from beyond the arc, while Goldey-Beacom was 6-of-11.  

In the second half both teams continued to battle back and forth with neither team seeming to take control of the game.  

It wasn't until the midpoint of the half that Goldey-Beacom began making a run.  Trailing by one (36-35) at the 13:55 mark, sophomore Ashley Rosario scored a layup to give the Lightning the lead which jumped started an eventual 15-3 run.  Sophomore Irene Hudson drained a jumper to give Goldey-Beacom an 11-point advantage by the score of 50-39 with 8:52 on the clock.

Holy Family rallied and came within three points of Goldey-Beacom's lead as graduate student Samantha Thompson (Southampton, Pa./St. Basils) (Southampton, Pa./St. Basil's) scored a layup to cap a 13-5 run and make the score 55-52 with 3:20 remaining in regulation.  

Despite the rally, Goldey-Beacom was able to hold off the Holy Family come-back as the Lightning outscored the Tigers, 11-2 the rest of the way to secure the victory.  The Goldey-Beacom defense limited Holy Family to only one field goal in the final three-plus minutes of action as the Tigers shot 1-of-9 down the stretch.

Holy Family will wait to see whom they play in the upcoming NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament held next week (March 11-14).  Holy Family should be a guaranteed lock to receive an at-large bid as the Tigers have been ranked no lower than second in the region all season and have been ranked first the past few weeks.  The NCAA selection show will air Sunday, March 6 at 9:30 p.m.  The webcast can be viewed by visiting www.ncaa.com (.)