Holy Family Sports Wrap: Hoops, Track, Softball

PHILADELPHIA — The Holy Family University women’s basketball team won its ninth straight victory defeating Nyack College, 83-39, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest at the Campus Center Saturday afternoon.

Holy Family, ranked 18th in the recent USA Today/ESPN Division II National Top-25 Coaches’ Poll and second in the NCAA Division II East Region, improves to 19-3 overall and 16-1 in the CACC.  Nyack is now 9-16 overall and 5-12 in the CACC.

Prior to today’s contest Holy Family recognized four student-athletes playing in their final home regular season contest at Holy Family, including Samantha Thompson (Southampton, Pa./St. Basil’s), Meghan Gibson (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan), Catherine Carr (Bernardsville, N.J./Bernards) and Lindsey Tennett (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge).  In addition, the Tigers also honored head coach Mark Miller for recording his 100th career victory back on Feb. 9 after the team’s victory over Georgian Court University.

Sophomore Erin Mann (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) along with Tennett and Carr, combined for 51 points on the afternoon.  Mann led the way with a game-high 19 points, while grabbing nine rebounds.  Tennett recorded a double-double with 18 points and a game-best 11 boards.  Carr contributed 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.

With her 14-point performance, Carr inched closer to the all-time scoring record in program history.  She currently sits at 1,867 career points and is 61 points away from the program record of 1,928 points set by Debbie Schopfer (1987-1991).

Junior Lauren Peters (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) finished with seven points, seven rebounds and three assists, while sophomore Kelly Brady (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) chipped in eight points off the bench for the Tigers.

For Nyack, senior Lekesha Harris and sophomore Brittany Mitchell each scored a team-high eight points to lead the Warriors offense.

As a team, Holy Family forced 28 turnovers and held a 54-38 advantage in rebounding in the victory.

Holy Family will travel to face cross-time rival, the University of the Sciences, on Wednesday, Feb. 23 in a battle for first place in the CACC South Division.  Game time is slated for 6 p.m.

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In men’s action, Holy Family University snapped its four-game losing streak after defeating Nyack College, 87-81, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest at the Campus Center Saturday afternoon.

Holy Family improves to 6-19 overall and 4-11 in the CACC, while Nyack falls to 2-22 overall and 0-16 in the CACC.

Junior Tim Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Cardinal Dougherty) led the Holy Family offense with a game-high 30 points.  He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists.  Freshman Levente Csorvasi (Kecskemet, Hungary/Afeosz) recorded a new career-high with 17 points after shooting 7-of-10 from the field.

Sophomore Khiry Hankins (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day School) and freshman Rashaad Sneed (Durham, N.C./Hillside Heat Academy) each tallied 15 points.  Freshman Alberto Munoz (Morrisville, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and finished with seven points in the victory.

For Nyack, junior David Cerant scored a team-high 16 points off the bench to lead the Warriors as six different players averaged double-figures in scoring.  Senior James Oyamo and junior Lafayette Curtis each finished with 14 points.  Oyamo also grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds to record a double-double.  Freshman Ryan Woodard contributed 12 points, while junior Louis Allen scored 11 points and sophomore Jamaur Jackson added ten.

Holy Family is back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 23 as the Tigers travel to face cross-town rival the University of the Sciences in a CACC contest.  Game time is slated for 8 p.m.

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PRINCETON — The Holy Family University women’s 4x400 relay team set a new season high as the Tigers finished third overall at the Princeton Invitational hosted by Princeton University at the Princeton-Jadwin Gym Saturday afternoon.

The quartet of freshmen Diamond McCoy (Washington, D.C./Paul Laurence Dunbar), Dominique Thomas (Laurelton, N.Y./Law Government Service Magnet), Delainey Price (Cheltenham, Md./Frederick Douglas) and junior Latifah Porter (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia High School for Girls) recorded a time of 3:58.50 to finish just behind second place Towson (3:57.87).  Shippensburg University won the event with a time of 3:52.81.

Holy Family’s previous best time occurred earlier in the season at the Collegiate Track Conference Relay Carnival.  The Tigers finished first overall with a time of 4:00.38.

Holy Family just missed provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Division II Championship by 1.50 seconds (3:57.00).  The Tigers will have another chance to better their mark next week when they compete at the Armory on Friday, Feb. 25.

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Holy Family University softball team has been selected to finish ninth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) this season, as voted by the conference’s head coaches.

Holy Family finished 24-23 overall and 18-8 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) in 2010 to record its first winning season since 2005. The Tigers qualified for their third consecutive CACC Tournament and were seeded fourth in last year’s tournament.

“I think it’s a good positioning,” said first year head coach Davon Ortega.  “It’s an opportunity to take advantage of teams not expecting much of us.  The poll doesn’t mean too much as we still need to play our game.  If we do that we’ll get the job done this season. “

The Tigers will be led by captains Cassandra Fitzgerald-Black (Whitby, Ont./Fr. Leo J. Austin) and Lindsey Iden (Rushland, Pa./Council Rock North) this season.  Fitzgerald-Black started in 46 games last season and hit .291, while recording a .520 slugging percentage.  She collected 43 hits, four doubles, 11 runs and drove in 33 batters.  Fitzgerald-Black also belted ten homeruns during the course of the season.

In her first season of collegiate action, Iden batted .261 with a .362 slugging percentage and a.322 on-base percentage. She tallied 36 hits including six doubles, one triple and two homeruns. Iden scored 16 runs and drove in 15 batters. In the field, she recorded a .964 fielding percentage, while committing only four errors.

The Tigers return ten players from last year’s squad and welcome eight newcomers to the team this season.  Holy Family begins the season down south in Kissimmee, Fla. and will compete in the Rebel Spring Games from March 6-11.

CACC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Caldwell (12) - 194
2. Dominican (1) - 174
3. Georgian Court (1) - 168
4. Philadelphia - 139
5. Concordia - 138
6. Wilmington - 115
7. Bloomfield - 108
8. University of the Sciences - 97
9. Holy Family - 96
10. Post - 74
11. Goldey-Beacom - 62
12. Felician - 54
13. Chestnut Hill - 25
14. Nyack - 24
() - First Place Votes