CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College women's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak with a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory over Dominican College by the score of 67-53 Tuesday night in the George R. Newman Center. The win clinches third place in the CACC North Division for the Cougars, who are now 10-16 overall and 8-8 in league play. The Chargers, who already wrapped up first in the CACC North, fall to 16-11, 13-4 CACC.
The result also means that the Cougars will play at second-place Bloomfield College in the first round of the CACC Tournament on Monday, Mar. 2. The Lady Deacons swept the season series with Caldwell earlier this season.
The Cougars grabbed control of the game early, jumping out to a 17-8 lead in the first six minutes of the contest. After Dominican pulled to within three later in the half, Caldwell used a pair of baskets from sophomore forward Lisa Federico (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) to spark an 8-0 run and take a 34-23 lead with 1:31 on the clock. A three-pointer from Meghan Murphy and a basket by Althea Chambers made the halftime score 34-28 Caldwell. Freshman forward Kaitlyn Lambert (Cumberland, RI/Cumberland) led all players with 11 points in the first half.
A 9-0 run, including three-pointers from Lambert and sophomore guard Kirsty Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Acad.), boosted the Cougar advantage to 43-28 with 17:09 remaining. Caldwell still maintained a 13-point lead, 52-39 with just over eight minutes to play when Dominican scored six straight points to pull to within seven, 52-45 with 6:16 left. But a conventional three-point play from Leedham and a basket by junior guard Danielle Hubbard (East Orange, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) pushed the lead back to 57-45, and the Chargers never came closer than seven the rest of the way. The Cougars held Dominican to 25.7 percent shooting from the field in the second half and 30.8 percent for the game to end a nine-game losing skid against the Chargers.
Lambert finished with 16 points to lead all scorers, and Leedham made three three-pointers en route to 14 points. Senior forward Mackenzie Lynch (Wayne, NJ/DePaul Catholic) and Janay Perkins (Bronx, NY/Walton) also contributed, with Lynch recording her third straight double-double (11 points, 12 boards), and Perkins matching her career high with 16 rebounds. Sophomore guard Abena George (Elmont, NY/Elmont Memorial) tallied a career-high 12 points, while Federico, pictured, had a career-best six points in 13 minutes off the bench. Chambers paced the Chargers with 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Cougars close out the regular season on Friday, Feb. 27 against Philadelphia University in the final home game for seniors Lynch, Perkins and Janay Prim (Ansonia, CT/Kolbe Cathedral). The game is scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. in the Newman Center.
