New Haven, Conn. - (2/26/2018) – With the regular season coming to a close on Saturday, February 24, the field for the upcoming 2017-2018 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Basketball Championship is officially set. Chestnut Hill College garnered the #3 seed in the CACC South and will visit the #2 seed in the North Division, Caldwell University for a 7:00 p.m. Opening Round contest on Tuesday, February 27. Bloomfield College and the University of the Sciences (USceinces) garnered the league's top postseason seeds as the respective leaders of the CACC North and South Divisions.  
 
Defending CACC Champions, USciences (25-3, 17-2) will serve as the #1 overall seed for postseason play as they paced the CACC with a 17-2 league record. Both of the Devils' league losses came against Chestnut Hill College (19-9, 15-4), who won the initial meeting 72-65 on Saturday, December 9, as well as the regular season finale, 80-77, on Saturday, February 24.



In their only meeting of the regular season, Chestnut Hill College and Caldwell University exchanged leads early in the opening quarter, but a bold 16-point effort from guard Kristen Drogsler (Middle Village, N.Y.) separated the Cougars by 11 points, 27-16, at the end of the frame. The trend continued during the second period as the Cougars expanded their lead to 20 points, 48-28, by halftime. But the Griffins came back in the third quarter, 63-48, outscoring Caldwell University 20-15 thanks to the combined hustle of junior forward Jaeda Wildgoose (Somerset, N.J.), sophomore forward Shannon Glenn (Philadelphia, Pa.), and senior guard Vicky Tumasz (North Wales, Pa.). Chestnut Hill College overpowered the Cougars in the fourth frame as well, 20-17, but eventually ran out of time in an 80-68 end.

Heading to the final day of season, Bloomfield College (17-11, 16-3) and Caldwell University 23-5, 16-3) battled for the CACC North Division crown. It would be the Bears who recorded a 69-62 victory over the Cougars and earned the division's top seed. Therefore, #1N Bloomfield College will serve as host to #4S Holy Family University (10-17, 9-10) in Tuesday's Opening Round competition. Additionally, #1S USciences will host #4N Felician University (10-16, 8-11), while #2S Jefferson University (24-4, 16-3) welcomes #3N Dominican College to the Gallagher Center. All CACC Opening Round contests are schedule for 7:00 p.m. tipoffs on Tuesday, February 27.
 
The winners of Tuesday's four Opening Round contests will meet at the Gallagher Center on Saturday, March 3, for the CACC Semifinals with the league championship schedule for noon (12:00 p.m.) on Sunday, March 4.