ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - Senior Ariel Wilson (Chesapeake, Va.) scored 13 points over the final two quarters but could not bring the Bears back as they fell to the Rams of Philadelphia University, 52-46 in the 2016 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship Final Saturday afternoon at the Hennessy Center on the campus of Dominican College. The Rams claimed the CACC Championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament after avenging their lone defeat in conference play this season that came at the claws of the Bears.

Bloomfield now sits at 24-7 with the setback and will wait to see if their historic season is rewarded with an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after knocking regionally ranked, Holy Family in the CACC semifinals. PhilaU, the 3rd ranked team in the East Region improved to 25-6 with their ticket now punched to the NCAA 'Dance'. The tournament selection show will air Sunday night at 10:00 pm.

Both teams registered their second lowest point totals of the season. Jessica Kaminski pumped in a team-high 14 points for the Rams, while also being named to the CACC All-Tournament Team in the process. She was 5-of-9 from the field and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. If that wasn't enough, Kaminski also collected four assists and a steal.
 
Mary Newell added 11 points for the Rams and was named the CACC Tournament's Most Valuable Player, aided in large part by her phenomenal 25-point, 13-rebound performance in Friday's semifinal win over Caldwell University. Bria Young chipped in 10 points as well. Tori Arnao was PhilaU's third member on the all-tournament team.
 
Wilson and Tianna Smith (Spring Valley, N.Y.) went for 16 and 14 points, respectively, for Bloomfield. Wilson and Chyna Golden (Neptune, N.J.) were named to the CACC all-tournament team.
 
Newell got the Rams off to a strong start as she scored five points in the opening minutes, as Philadelphia scored eight of the game's first ten points. Eventually the Rams took a 17-7 lead after one quarter.
 
Philadelphia continued to stifle Bloomfield in the second quarter and led by as many as 13 points in building a 29-19 advantage at the intermission.
 
Bloomfield, though, tried to counter and got to within a pair at 29-27 early in the third. Wilson started and capped the Bears' opening 8-0 surge with long three-pointers, while Deja McKenzie (Baltimore, M.D.) flipped in a layup.
 
PhilaU called a quick timeout to settle things down and it worked as the Rams slowly started to build back their lead. Young turned in a three-point play on a basket and free throw to push the Rams' advantage back out to double-figures at 42-32 with a minute left in the third.
The Philadelphia response proved to be the difference maker in the second half, as Bloomfield could not muster up another serious rally to get back in the game. The Rams' defense held the Bears to several low percentage shots from the perimeter, while PhilaU at the other end made several free throws late to ice it.

Watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show Sunday, Mar 6, 10:00 pm.

2015-16 CACC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Megan Wolfe (USciences)

Sharell Sanders (Caldwell)

Erin Fenningham (Holy Family)

Chyna Golden (Bloomfield)

Ariel Wilson (Bloomfield)

Jessica Kaminski (Philadelphia)

Tori Arnao (Philadelphia)

Mary Newell (Philadelphia)
 

MVP: Mary Newell (Philadelphia)

part of story courtesy of Doug DeBiase - CACC Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Communications