CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College women's basketball team lost to Philadelphia University, 67-58 in the final Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular-season game Saturday night at the George R. Newman Center. With the loss, the Cougars dropped to 8-19 overall and 8-16 in the CACC. The Rams, who are ineligible for the CACC Tournament but are hoping for an at-large berth into the NCAA Northeast Region Tournament, improved to 22-6 on the season, including a 19-5 conference record.

Philadelphia led throughout the first half, taking a 23-10 advantage at the 10:25 mark after five straight points from guard Meg Abele. The Cougars responded with a 9-0 run that included five points from junior guard Becky Piper (Farmingdale, NJ/Colts Neck) and four points from sophomore forward Melissa Freeman (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) to cut the lead to 23-19 with seven minutes left in the half. But the Rams maintained control of the game and built their lead back up to 10, 35-25 at halftime.

Philadelphia increased its lead to as many as 16 and led 50-36 with 9:14 to go before the Cougars made a push. Sophomore forward Dana Leary (Bridgewater, NJ/Immaculata), left, sparked a 10-2 Caldwell run with six points to pull the Cougars to within 52-46 with 5:33 on the clock. The Cougars were able to get within five points twice and trailed 59-54 with 1:37 remaining. But the Rams went 6-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win, which was their 14th victory in their past 15 games.

Leary led the Cougars with 14 points, while sophomore guard Phylicia Holmes (Roselle, NJ/Roselle), right, recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards. Abele poured in 39 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the field, including 6-of-9 from three-point range, to fuel the Rams' victory. Ashley Webster recorded 10 points and eight rebounds, while Alisha Ferguson tallied a team-high 11 boards to go with nine points.

The Cougars, who had wrapped up the No. 6 seed in the CACC Tournament, will travel to play third-seeded Bloomfield College on Wednesday, Mar. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the CACC Tournament quarterfinals.