The Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team placed four players in double figures with a solid second and third quarter effort to defeat Caldwell University 72-60 and set the program record with their 20^th win of the season.

The win was also their first time the Griffins defeated the Cougars on their home court, having gone 0-7 in their previous attempts to do so.  Chestnut Hill improves to 20-4 overall, the first program in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) to win 20 games this season.  The Griffins also improve to  13-1 in CACC games.   Caldwell falls to 12-11 overall and 7-6 in league play.

Cassie Sebold (Willow Grove, Pa.) led the Griffins with 18 points (4-9 3FG) while Emily Chmiel (Doylestown, Pa.) added 17 points (8-13 FG) and Bri Hewlett (North Wales, Pa.) 15 (6-10 FG).  Chmiel and Hewlett also recorded double-doubles with Chmiel grabbing 11 rebounds and Hewlett ten.  Lauren Crim (Warrington, Pa.) rounded out the double figure scorers with 14 points (4-8 FG,3-7 3FG). Chmiel led the team with five assists while Hewlett added four.

The Cougars scored the first four points of the game before Sebold got the Griffins on the board with a three-point field goal.  After another Cougar bucket, Sebold drove for a layup to cut the score to 6-5.  The Cougars finished the quarter with a 10-4 run and held a 16-9 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Griffins used a 9-0 run to open the second quarter and take an 18-16 lead before Caldwell broke the run and retook the lead 19-18 with a three-point basket.  Hewlett followed with a layup and after a defensive stop Crim sank a three-pointer to give the Griffins a four point lead, 23-19 with just under six minutes left.  The Cougars rallied with an 9-4 run to take a one point lead, 28-27 only to have the Griffins again get two straight scores, a layup from Hewlett and a three-pointer from Sebold to lead 32-28 with 1:32 left.  Chmiel added a putback as time was expiring to keep the lead at four 34-30  heading into the locker room at halftime. Chmiel had the hot hand in the quarter scoring nine points and grabbing eight rebounds.

The Cougars opened the quarter with a 5-3 mini run to close within two 37-35 before the Griffins used a 16-9 run to expand the lead to double digits 53-41 with 2:05 left in the third quarter. Four different players scored over the course of the run with Crim's traditional three-point play capping the effort. Neither team scored the rest of the quarter and the Griffins held a 12-point advantage heading into the final period.

Chestnut Hill opened the fourth quarter with a 10-3 run to lead 63-44 with 6:13 left.    Hewlett had five of the ten points including a three-point basket to cap the run. A Sebold three shortly thereafter gave the Griffins their biggest lead at 66-46.  Caldwell came back with a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 13, 68-58 with 2:32 left prompting a Griffins timeout.  Two free throws by CU's Paula Dits  closed the gap to eight 68-60 with 2:00 minutes left before Chmiel 's layup broke the run with 1:41 left.  The Griffins added two more baskets to round out the scoring.

After a 23.5% shooting effort in the first quarter, the Griffins shot 55.6% (25-45) the rest of the way to finish the game shooting 46.8% from the field.    Defensively the griffins held the Cougars to just 34.3% shooting from the field. Chestnut Hill also had a 47-36 edge on the boards.

The Chestnut Hill College women's basketball team returns to action on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 when they travel to nearby Jefferson University to take on the Rams in a key CACC South matchup.  Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.