ORANGEBURG, N.Y.- Sophomore Sharell Sanders (Dorchester, MA) netted a career-high 28 points but the Caldwell University women's basketball team came up short to the Philadelphia University Rams 71-60 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship Semifinals.
 
The Cougars end their season at 21-9, while the Rams improve to 24-6 and will face Bloomfield College in Saturday's championship game.
 
The teams battled to an even first quarter as both defenses controlled the game in the opening half. The Rams led by three with under two minutes to go but a free throw by senior Nicole Angelo (Mt. Laurel, NJ) and a late Sanders bucket evened the score at 13 after one quarter of play.
 
Philadelphia got off to a fast start in the second quarter as they took a 19-15 lead in the first two minutes of play. Caldwell responded with a 14-6 run to pull ahead by four points. Sophomore Maura Kelty (Barrington, RI) drained a triple to start the run, while Sanders netted six points in the comeback. Freshman Caroline Dunn (Denville, NJ) converted a three-point play with under a minute to play as put the Cougars in front at 29-25 with 37 seconds on the clock. The Rams scored in the final seconds but Caldwell headed to halftime with a 29-27 advantage.
 
The Rams controlled the third quarter as they opened the second half on a 21-5 run to pull ahead 48-34 late in the quarter. Philadelphia extended their lead to as much as 16 points at 55-39 early in the fourth quarter.
 
The Cougars battled back with a 10-2 run to close to gap to eight points. Sanders netted a pair of triples, while junior Antoinette Pilla (Scarsdale, NY) connected a pair at the free throw line and sophomore Karlie O'Driscoll (Sharon, MA) hit a lay-up to slice the score down to 57-49 with 6:52 to play in the game.
 
The Rams matched the Cougars offensively down the stretch as they connected on four free throws over the final 1:14 to earn the victory and advance to the championship game.
 
For the Cougars, Sanders posted a career-high 28 points in the loss along with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. O'Driscoll netted eight points and three boards, while Dunn finished with six points and four rebounds. Pilla recorded five points, two rebounds and three assists and connected on her modern era (1990-present) record-setting 65th three-pointer of the season, passing Torey Jones (2012-13) and Jennifer Carleton (2002-03), who both netted 64 in a season.
 
Angelo, playing in her final collegiate game, totaled three points, four rebounds and two assists. She finished her career with 1,048 points and ends her career as one of 16 members of Caldwell's 1,000 point club. Angelo also ends her career with 201 three-pointers, which places her third all-time in triples.