Holy Family continues win streak; trounces Concordia
BucksLocalSports Editor Philadelphia — What looked like it was going to be a long day for the Holy Family University women’s basketball team turned into a short afternoon Dec. 8 as the Lady Tigers, up by just four points at the half, ran away with a 24-point triumph Dec. 8 at the Campus Center in Philadelphia.
After missing its first 12 field goal attempts, Holy Family picked up the pace, ignited by senior Erin Mann, who tallied all but 12 of the team’s 34 points before the intermission. Sparked by Mann, the Tigers registered a 29-13 run in which they connected on 11-of-13 from the field and led by as many as 10 points in the first half. The Clippers (2-10, 1-5) bounced back however, closing out the period with a 10-4 run of its own, capped by a Tara Ann Rock threepointer that just beat the halftime buzzer.
Holy Family, which hasn’t lost since dropping its season-opener at Bentley way back on Nov. 11, exploded out of the locker room with a 22-4 run to take a 56-34 edge. The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest was never in question after that as the Tigers rolled to a 77-49 victory.
“f think we like to keep it interesting for our fans,” quipped junior center Carolyne Heston, of Feasterville. “We picked it up and played really well in the second half.”
“That’s what happens sometimes,” added the product of Villa Joseph Marie. “We don’t play well on offense but our defense steps it up and plays big for us.”
Mann, a graduate of Villa Maria Academy from West Chester, finished with a game-high 29 points, just two shy of her career-high, to lead the Holy Family offense. She shot 9-of-17 from the field and converted 11of-13 free throw attempts, adding a game-high 11 rebounds to record her fourth double-double of the season.
“Erin is our go-to girl and everyone knows it,” said Heston. “She is a great player both offensively and defnsively and she really is a good leader out there for us.”
But Mann wasn’t the only player coming through on offense. Holy Family had 11 players reach the scoring column, eight of whom chipped in with five points or more.
HFU senior Molly Hanlon and junior Mary Ellen McCollum of Abington (St. Basil Academy) each scored seven points for the Tigers. Junior Katie Duma added seven points and five rebounds off the bench while freshman Kasey Woetzel contributed a season-best six points.
“Our bench is really deep; we play a lot of girls,” said Heston. “We have players who can score a lot one night and they don’t score the next night. Everyone is pretty well-rounded.”
The Tigers would lead by as many as 28 points late in the second half after freshman Erin Fenningham drained a three-pointer to put Holy Family on top, 73-45, with 2:22 to go. Fenningham finished with five points on 2-of-2 shooting.
The Tigers outscored Concordia 43-19 after the break and limited the Clippers to just 7-of-33 shooting from the field. The HFU defense held the Clippers to less than 30-percent shooting (17-63) for the game, while the Tigers shot just under 40-per- cent (27-69).
For Concordia, senior Krystina Agard led the Clippers with 13 points to go along with eight rebounds. Junior Victoria Jones contributed seven points and had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Ranked 13th in the recent USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division ff National Top-25 Coaches’ Poll, Holy Family improves to 8-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play. The win also marked the Tigers’ eighth straight win.
“We take everything one game at a time, one day at a time,” explained Heston. “We try to get better each and every game and just continue to play well.”
Coming off a season in which it claimed a CACC
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