Philly U. women hold off CHC in overtime

Posted 2/29/16

Philadelphia University’s Tori Arnao (left) tries to extract the ball from a pile of Philly U. and Chestnut Hill College players. (Photo by Tom Utescher)[/caption] by Tom Utescher On the road last …

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Philly U. women hold off CHC in overtime

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Philadelphia University’s Tori Arnao (left) tries to extract the ball from a pile of Philly U. and Chestnut Hill College players. (Photo by Tom Utescher) Philadelphia University’s Tori Arnao (left) tries to extract the ball from a pile of Philly U. and Chestnut Hill College players. (Photo by Tom Utescher)[/caption]

by Tom Utescher

On the road last Tuesday night, the Chestnut Hill College women forced a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference rival into overtime for the second game in a row.

Three days earlier the Griffins had tied visiting University of the Sciences at 74-all at the end of regulation, and then romped through the five minute OT period to win, 91-80. Facing CACC South Division leader Philadelphia University on Tuesday, CHC took the host Lady Rams into an extra session, but this time the story did not have a happy ending.

From a 69-69 draw at the end of regulation, Philly U. scored the first five points of the overtime stint and went on to win, 83-78.

“We knew they were going to give us a battle because they played us very tough the last time,” said longtime Philly U. head coach Tom Shirley, who logged his 700th career coaching victory back on February 6. “Mike has done a great job and they’ve just gotten better and better.”

Shirley was referring to his former assistant coach Mike West, who’s now in his first season in the leading role at CHC. The Lady Rams’ victory wrapped up their regular season with a record of 18-1 in the CACC and a 22-6 mark overall, and the win propelled them to third place in the NCAA Division II East Region rankings. The top-seeded team in the CACC South Division, Philly U. will cross over to play the fourth seed in the North, Nyack College, in the first round of the eight-team conference tournament.

Although Chestnut Hill slipped to 10-9 in the conference (12-14 overall) on Tuesday, their rival for the fourth and final playoff spot in the South Division, Wilmington University, lost on the same night to finish 9-10. In the tourney, the Griffins start out by travelling to Bloomfield College, the top seed in the North and the only conference team to defeat Philadelphia University (63-58 on January 30).

Philly U. mentor Shirley observed that going into last Tuesday’s clash with CHC, “We each had something on the line. They were playing to get into the conference tournament, and we were playing to try and get into the NCAA tournament.”

The conference champion will receive one of 22 automatic bids to the NCAA Division II tourney, where there will also be 42 at-large invitations extended.

CHC’s jet-powered 5’2” freshman guard, Mary Trossi, had dropped 28 points on USciences the previous Saturday, and on Tuesday she rocketed around the court once more to score 29 points and deal out six assists, both game highs. Another Griffin rookie, forward Jaeda Wildgoose, deposited 11 points to go with a game-high 11 rebounds, and another double-digit scorer for the visitors was junior guard Brittany McDonough (14 points).

While Chestnut Hill gave a scintillating, energetic performance, Philly U. was more controlled, committing only nine turnovers in the game to CHC’s careless 23. A former Catholic Academies League standout at power forward, current Lady Rams senior Mary Newell (Villa Joseph Marie) registered seven rebounds and five steals. She led the home team on the scoreboard with 22 points, including those initial five in overtime.

Her former high school opponent, redshirt sophomore guard Kelsey Jones, came off the bench to serve as the Lady Rams’ floor general late in the game while putting up seven points and making two steals.

Two former Archbishop Wood players, senior forward Tori Arnao and redshirt freshman guard Jess Kaminski, chalked up 17 and 16 points, respectively, and Arnao grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

With seven and six points, respectively, Arnao and Kaminski led a list of six Philly U. scorers in the opening quarter. The Lady Rams were up by seven points near the end of the period, but at the buzzer Trossi heaved in a shot from a few feet past the three-point line, completing a 10 point quarter and closing up the score to 26-22.

Kaminski continued to produce for the home team in the second stanza, and with under two minutes to go her squad led by a dozen points. In the waning moments of the half CHC helped itself from the foul line; Wildgoose made one free throw and Trossi and junior Erica McIntosh each put in a pair while the Lady Rams did not score down the stretch. The teams headed into the locker room with a 38-31 tally on the board.

By the three-quarter mark of the contest, Chestnut Hill had nipped one point off its deficit, now trailing 54-49. Some new scorers were stepping into the limelight on both sides. It was after the intermission that McDonough would score nine of her 14 total points and Wildgoose would accumulate eight of her 11 for CHC. The Lady Rams had Newell ring up 18 of her 22 markers in the second half of regulation and in overtime, and that’s also when MSJ grad Jones scored all of her seven points for the evening.

Philly U. led by five points at the start of the fourth quarter, and the spread was still five (now 67-62) with under two minutes left in the period. After McDonough bagged a “three” for the Griffins, Newell struck back for the Lady Rams from the right edge of the foul line, but the hosts wouldn’t score again in regulation.

CHC freshman Mary Trossi (with ball) lifts off for a lay-up against Philadelphia University’s Kelsey Jones, a Mount St. Joseph Academy grad. (Photo by Tom Utescher) CHC freshman Mary Trossi (with ball) lifts off for a lay-up against Philadelphia University’s Kelsey Jones, a Mount St. Joseph Academy grad. (Photo by Tom Utescher)[/caption]

The 69-65 figure stayed on the board until just 16.3 seconds remained, when Philly U. senior guard Bria Young left the floor with her fifth foul and CHC junior forward Lauren Milligan (six points, eight rebounds, two blocks) made both free throws awarded on the play. The visitors were still down by two when they called a time-out with 7.9 seconds remaining.

From the left sideline in front of her team bench, McDonough made a short inbounds pass to Trossi down near the baseline. The freshman drove in along the boundary and hit a lay-up, sending the contest into overtime at 69-69.

The home team got a leg up in the OT as Newell scored twice from the paint in the opening minute. After the Griffins missed a lay-up at the other end they fouled Newell, who made one of two free throws for a 74-69 score.

“They like to run in transition, and we emphasized to our team that we couldn’t let them beat us off the dribble,” the Lady Rams’ Shirley said. “They did beat us off the dribble a lot of the game, but not as much at the end.”

CHC got back within three in the overtime segment when sophomore forward Nicole Parriski converted off the rebound of her own shot, but when the clock dipped under three minutes the Griffins had to start sending their rivals to the foul line. Over the next two minutes, CHC committed several turnovers while the Lady Rams shot four-for-six from the free throw line, with Jones succeeding on all four of her attempts.

Milligan netted a baseline shot for the visitors, then the home team recouped those points on two free throws by sophomore Rachel Day. The score was 80-73 with just over 10 seconds to play, but there was still time for some more excitement.

It became a two-possession game when CHC got a “three” from the left corner by McDonough. However, she immediately had to foul Philly U’s Kaminski, who cashed in on two free throws with 8.9 on the clock. Chestnut Hill got back within four once more with Trossi’s last lay-up, then the Lady Rams’ Newell made the second of two foul shots with 1.2 ticks to go, stamping the 83-78 final on the board.

Just after the CACC regular season wrapped up, individual conference honors were announced. CHC’s Wildgoose was named Rookie of the Year, and Philly U’s Young shared the laurels for Player of the Year with a guard from Bloomfield. Young stood alone as the Defensive Player of the Year.

Still, Coach Shirley was not brimming with confidence as the CACC tournament approached.

“I don’t think we’re playing as well as we did earlier in the season,” he noted. “We’re leaking oil a little bit, and I emphasized that to our team. It’s going to be a tough tournament, and there are probably four of five teams who are capable of winning it.”

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