PHILADELPHIA – The No. 25 HFU women's basketball team never trailed as it defeated Jefferson 77-68 on Sunday afternoon to capture its first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship since 2015.
Tied at 48 following a 13-1 run by the Rams,
Taylor Hinkle's (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks South) 3-pointer with 2:54 to go in the third quarter gave the Tigers the lead for good.
A 9-2 surge to start the final period, capped by seven unanswered that started with a
Kara Meredith (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Archbishop Wood) triple, helped HFU re-establish a double-digit advantage, 63-53, on a
Carolyn Prevost (Belle Mead, N.J./Montgomery) layup with 7:35 to play.
Jefferson got as close as five twice, but Hinkle and
Kaelah Carter (Watervliet, N.Y./Shaker (The College of Saint Rose)) had the responses as the Rams could never make it a single-possession game again.
Up Next
Holy Family will learn its NCAA Tournament destination tonight when the bracket is unveiled tonight at 10:30 p.m. on
NCAA.com.
Individual Highlights
- Hinkle led all players with 11 rebounds and added a team-high 17 points to capture CACC Tournament MVP with her third double-double in three games
- She now ranks third in the program's single-season history with 304 total rebounds and 211 defensive rebounds, and ninth with 93 offensive rebounds
- Also named to the CACC All-Tournament Team were Skyler Searfoss (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe Area) and Prevost
- Searfoss finished with 11 points and a game and career-high seven assists, while Prevost had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting
- Carter poured in 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting and Jessica Riepe (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) added 11 points on 4-of-6 field goals, including making 3-of-5 3-pointers
- Riepe is now tied for seventh in the program's single-season history with 59 triples
- Meredith contributed nine points off the bench
Inside the Box Score
- Holy Family made five more 3-pointers,8-3, and outscored Jefferson 36-26 in the paint
How it Happened
- Back-to-back triples by Riepe and Meredith in the final two minutes of the first quarter established the first double-digit advantage, 23-13, before Jefferson closed out the scoring for an eight-point cushion following 10 minutes of play
- The Rams fought back to within two, 28-26, with an 11-5 spurt to begin the second, but the Tigers countered with 10 unanswered - all of which were by Hinkle and Riepe – for a game-high 38-26 lead with 4:27 remaining in the first half
- A Meredith free throw in the final second made it 44-35 entering the locker room
- Carter matched that 12-point lead, 47-35, with a trifecta 56 seconds out of the break, only for Jefferson to come back with the 13-1 run to tie it up at 48 with 3:27 to go in the third period
