Following the postponement of two Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games over the holiday break, the Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball Team is back in action as they travel to take on CACC South Division Rival Wilmington University Wednesday night.
   
No Spectator Policy at Wilmington
 Due to a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus and variants, Wilmington University and the Athletics Department is applying a NO SPECTATOR POLICY for all Wildcat home games until further notice.
This strict policy will begin Wednesday, January 5, with the home basketball contests against Chestnut Hill at the WU Athletics Complex.

The Series:
Wednesday's game will be the 27^th meeting between the two teams.  The series dates back to the 2007-08 season when the Griffins became members of the Central Atlantic Collegiate conference (CACC) and NCAA Division II.   The Griffins have won seven of the last nine times these two teams met and hold a 14-12 advantage in the all-time series.  Wilmington won the last time these two teams met of February 4, 2020 in Newark, Delaware, 77-67.  Chestnut Hill's last win at Wilmington was on January 22, 2019 when the Griffins handed the Wildcats a 30-point defeat 92-62.

Conference Action
Chestnut Hill won their first two CACC games this season earning wins over Holy Family and Goldey-Beacom.  Wilmington holds a 1-2 CACC record with a win over Holy Family and losses to Jefferson and USciences. The Griffins are tied for second place in the CACC south Division with Jefferson, trailing only USciences (3-0). The Griffins' 2-0 start marks just the third time in the programs Division II history that they have started the season 2-0 in conference play. (2016-17 and 2019-20).

About the Griffins:
The Griffins enter Wednesday's game with a 8-3 record following a 66-61 road win at the University of New Haven.  The win gave the Griffins a 5-1 record in the month of December. 
Chestnut Hill's 8-3 start to the season is their best in program history.
Three players are averaging double figures this season led by Leah Miller's 16.4 points per game. Miller has played in the Griffins first eight games but missed the last three contests due to an injury.  Miller also leads the team with 10.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 77.1% from the free throw line and 52.0% from the field.  She ranks among the top five in the CACC in scoring average, rebounds/game, field goal percentage and field goals/game.  Miller is tied for the team lead with four double-doubles.
Emily Chmiel is averaging 12.9 points per game and ranks among the conference top five in seven different statistical categories, including free throw percentage (1^st, 89.5%) and field goal percentage (4^th, 54%).  Chmiel is second on the team averaging 8.9 rebounds per game and leads the team with 14 blocks and 98 total rebounds while appearing in all 11 games for the Griffins.
Point guard Cassie Sebold is averaging 12.7 points per game and leads the team with 65 assists (2^nd in CACC, 9^th in NCAA) and 17 steals.  Sebold has is tied for the team lead with 13 three-point field goals made on the season.
Lauren Crim also has 13 three-point field goals on the season and is averaging 5.3 points per game and ranks fifth in the CACC with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.9
Morgan Orloski is tied for second in the CACC with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.0 and is shooting 34.8% from beyond the three-point arc, and 43.2% from the field overall. Bri Hewlett has started the last three games in place of the injured Miller and is shooting 35% from beyond the arc

Last Time Out
Lauren Crim had the hot hand in the Griffins' last game, leading four players in double figures as the Chestnut Hill women's basketball team held off a late charge from host University of New Haven to defeat the Chargers 66-61 at Charger Gymnasium in West Haven, Connecticut.

Crim (Warrington, Pa.) led all scorers with 22 points (7-13 FG, 6-11 3FG) as the Griffins (8-3) won for the first time ever at Chargers Gym.  Emily Chmiel (Doylestown, Pa.) came off the bench to record her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points (6-6 FT) and 11 rebounds.  Bri Hewlett (North Wales, Pa.) added 11 points while Cassie Sebold (Willow Grove, Pa.) chipped in ten (10-10 FT) while dishing out a game high seven assists.

Free throws were a key factor in the Griffins' win as they connected on 22 of 23 shots from the charity stripe (95.7%), including a perfect 15-15 in the fourth quarter (and 7-7 in the third).  That mark is the highest in program history in a game where the team took 20 or more free throws.  The Griffins also outrebounded the Chargers (5-6) 41-36, the ninth time in the last ten games the Chestnut Hill has out-rebounded their opponent.

Crim Named CACC Player of the Week while Chmiel Garners CACC Rookie of the Week Honors
Chestnut Hill College women's basketball players Lauren Crim (Warrington, Pa.) and Emily Chmiel (Doylestown, Pa.)  have been named the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week respectively for their performance in their game at the University of New Haven on December 19.

Crim, a junior guard, earns her first CACC honors of the season while Chmiel nets her third honor of the season and second CACC Rookie of the Week accolade.  Chmiel was named CACC Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending December 5 and earned Rookie of the Week honors for the Week ending November 21.

In the Griffins 66-61 win at New Haven, Crim led four Chestnut Hill players in double figures with a season-high 22 points, making a season high six three-point field goals (6-11, 55%).  The junior guard connected on her first three three-point attempts of the game and finished the half with five three-point buckets.   For the game, Crim shot 54% from the field making seven of 13 shots, was 2-3 from the free throw line, and also contributed a rebound, one assist and one steal.

Chmiel came off the bench to record her fourth double-double of the season, tying her for the team lead (and second most in the conference), scoring ten points while grabbing 11 rebounds.  The freshman forward scored the bulk of her points from the free throw line, making all six of her attempts.  Defensively, Chmiel held New Haven's leading rebounder and third leading scorer to just two points and five rebounds over her 24 minutes of playing time.  She also had two steals and a block on the afternoon. Chmiel scored eight points and had six rebounds in the fourth quarter alone in the narrow five-point win.
 
Conference Honors
The Griffins have had at least one player earn conference honors in five of the first six weeks of the 2021-22 season.. The complete list is below.

Week Ending 12/20	Lauren Crim		CACC Player of the Week
	Emily Chmiel		CACC Rookie of the Week
Week Ending 12/5	Emily Chmiel		CACC Defensive Player of the Week
	Leah Miller		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
Week Ending 11/28	Leah Miller		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
Week Ending 11/21	Emily Chmiel		CACC Rookie of The Week
	Cassie Sebold		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
Week Ending 11/14	Leah Miller		CACC Weekly Honor Roll

 
Moving up the Ranks
In the Griffins' last game, Cassie Sebold moved into 7^th place on the Griffins all-time scoring list, passing Joanne Sauer who scored 1082 points from 1978-82. Sebold needs 16 points to pass Olivia Gorczynski '15 for sixth place on the all-time list.  Lauren Crim needs two three point field goals to move into 4^th place on the Griffins' all-time list, passing Beth Ann Castone's total of 158.

Sebold Joins the 1,000 Point Club
Cassie Sebold made five free throws in the final 1:41 of the game and scored the 1,000^th point of her college career as the Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball Team overcame a four point fourth quarter deficit and rallied to defeat West Chester University  80-68 on November 21, 2021

Sebold, a senior guard and the team's leading scorer for the 2019-20 season, entered the game needing 15 points to become the tenth player in program history to reach the coveted 1,000-point plateau.  She was still eight points shy of the mark as the teams entered the fourth quarter and six points shy as the game entered the final three minutes.  Sebold made a driving layup at the 2:59 mark tying the game.  The senior guard then went to free throw line three times in the final 1:41. Sebold's first free throw in her final trip to the charity stripe (with 30 seconds left) was the milestone reaching point.  She also made the second which provided the final 12-point margin of victory and gave her 16 points on the afternoon.

An Impressive Debut
Freshman Emily Chmiel came off the bench on Saturday, November 13 to score 10 points and grab a team high nine rebounds in the Griffins 66-51 loss to Molloy.  The 6-2 freshman also had three blocks and two steals against the Lions.  Chmiel was the Griffins top rebounder the next day grabbing seven boards in CHC's win over Queens while scoring 13 points.   

 

Griffins				Wildcats
64.4		Pts/game		51.6
58.3		Pts allowed/game		69.8
37.2		FG%		38.9
38.0		FG% Defense		39.9
26.5		3PT FG %		8.9
81.1		FT %		65.3
42.9		Rebounds/game		40.9
34.4		Rebounds allowed/gm.		37.9
8.5		Rebound margin		3.0
15		Assists/game		9.5

 
 
Scouting the Wildcats
Wilmington University is 1-7 overall, having lost their last three games in December after defeating Holy Family University on December 4 for their first win of the season.
Sabreen Muslin leads the Wildcats, averaging 15.3 points per game and shooting 51% from the field .  She is also the team's top rebounder, grabbing an average of 9.3 per game.
Kiara Eubanks is averaging 9.9 points per game and 6.1 rebounds.  She is also tied for the team lead with Muslim notching 11 steals on the season.  Eubanks leads the team with 19 assists
 
Last Time Out for Wilmington
Big first and third quarters carried Virginia State past the Wilmington University women's basketball team, 85-52, on Tuesday night in the VSU Multipurpose Center in the final game for the Wildcats before the holiday break.
The Trojans (5-5) scored 16 straight points in the first quarter to open a big lead and end the quarter leading 26-9. They then outscored the Wildcats (1-7), 25-17, in the third quarter to pull away and take the nonconference victory.
Virginia State took their largest lead of the game at the 5:46 mark of the fourth before closing out the Wildcats with the 85-52 nonconference victory.
Sabreen Muslim scored her 1,000^th collegiate career point tonight, combining two seasons at Howard Community College and two seasons at Wilmington. She finished with 18 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, adding three blocks as well.  Kiara Eubanks scored 10 points and had a team high four steals while Amaja Mack scored six points and added a team high four assists.