March 9, 2012

Waltham, Mass. - The sixth-seeded Holy Family University women's basketball team will be advancing to the NCAA Division II East Region semifinals for the seventh straight year after knocking off third-seeded Dowling College by the score of 71-64 in the quarterfinals Friday afternoon at the Dana Center in Waltham, Mass. 

Holy Family, among teams receiving votes in the recent USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division II
National Top-25 Coaches' Poll, improves to 25-7 overall.  The win marked the Tigers
12^thstraight and 18^th in their last 19 contests.  Dowling concludes its season at 22-7.

Junior Ana Cruz led Holy Family with a team-high 19 points after shooting 6-of-12 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.  Cruz sparked a second half surge by the Tigers as she scored seven of the team's last 11 points in the final :90 seconds of action. 

Junior Kelly Brady recorded her fourth double-double of the season after recording 12 points and 14 rebounds.  Sophomore Mary Ellen McCollum also scored in double-figures with ten points.  Fellow classmates Katie Duma and Maggie Serratelli scored nine and eight points respectively. 

For Dowling, junior Connie Simmons led the Golden Lions with a game-high 27 points.  Simmons also drained three three-pointers and shot 6-of-7 from the free throw line.  Sophomore Julia Koppl added 13 points, while senior Sarah Schicher grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.  

Dowling opened the game with a 10-2 run to quickly take an eight-point advantage within the first three-plus minutes of action.  

The Golden Lions eventually increased their lead to double-digits after a three-pointer by Koppl at the 7:04 mark of the half.  Koppl's three made the score 30-20 in favor of Dowling. 

However, Holy Family rallied back and used a 9-2 run to cut the Dowling lead to three points after Duma drained a pair of free throws to make the score 32-29 with 4:01 remaining in the half.  

Before the half came to a close, Dowling managed to score the final four points to take a 38-30 lead entering the locker rooms at halftime. 

In the second half, Holy Family began chipping away at the lead and came within one point of Dowling's lead on two separate occasions early in the half.

The Tigers eventually got over the hump and took the lead for the first time after Duma scored a layup basket to give Holy Family a 45-44 lead with 11:51 on the clock.  

Dowling recaptured the lead and led 49-48, however its lead didn't last long as Duma came through with a clutch three-pointer to give Holy Family a 51-49 lead with less than ten minutes to play in regulation. 

Duma's three-pointer would turn out to be the game-winning shot as Holy Family maintained the lead the rest of the way.  Dowling would come within one point of the Tigers' lead at the 6:17 mark (53-52), however Holy Family went on a quick 7-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game to that point by the score of 60-52 with 3:49 to play.  

Holy Family led by as many as ten points after Brady converted a pair of free throws to make the score 69-59 with less than :30 seconds showing on the clock. 

The Tigers shot 8-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to help secure the victory.  Holy Family converted 14-of-19 from the line for the game, while Dowling shot an impressive 12-of-13 from the free throw line.  

Holy Family held the advantage in shooting as the Tigers shot 40.6-percent from the field compared to Dowling's 34.4-shooting percentage.  Both teams struggled from beyond the arc as Holy Family converted 5-of-18 from long range, while Dowling finished 8-of-27.  

Holy Family will face No. 2 Southern Connecticut State University, which rallied for a 58-57 win over seventh-seeded C.W. Post is the other semifinal game.  Game time Saturday is slated for 5 p.m.

Provided by the Bentley Sports Information Department.