The Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team will play their final home game of the 2021-22 regular season on Wednesday when they host Georgian Court University.
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Senior Day
Prior to the start of tonight game, the Chestnut Hill Athletic Department and the Women's Basketball team will be honoring five seniors on the team:Â
Abbey Spratt,
Morgan Orloski,
Leah Miller,
Cassie Sebold, and
Bri Hewlett. The Athletics Department would like to recognize their accomplishments and congratulate them on their success over the course of their careers.
The Series
Wednesday's contest will be the 26
th meeting and the second this season between Georgian Court University. The Griffins won their first meeting this season on January 11, 53-42 and hold a 16-9 lead in the all time series which dates back to 2007-08, the Griffins first year in the NCAA.  Chestnut Hill also owns an 8-4 record at home against the Lions.
Conference Action
Chestnut Hill currently sits in first place in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) South Division with an 15-1 conference record following their 69-46 win at home vs. Wilmington on Saturday. The team is one game ahead of second place USciences with two more conference games to play.  The Griffins became the first team in the CACC to clinch a playoff berth with their win over Bloomfield on Saturday, February 5.  Georgian Court is 8-8 in league play and currently holds down the fourth and final playoff spot in the CACC south Division but are just  ½ game ahead of Holy Family University.
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First Round of CACC Playoff will be at Home
With their 65-60 win at Jefferson last Tuesday, the Griffins have secured a home playoff contest for the first round on the CACC Tournament which begins on March 1. The Griffins opponent for the March 1 contest is yet to be determined as is whether or not they are a #1 or #2 seed. Chestnut Hill will clinch the #1 seed with a win vs. Georgian Court
Griffins #3 in First NCAA East Region Rankings
Philadelphia, Pa -Â The Chestnut Hill College women's basketball team was ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division II East Region in the first regional rankings released on Wednesday. Chestnut Hill holds a 21-4 overall and in-region record following Tuesday night's win over Jefferson (not included in the first ranking)
This week's ranking marks the first time that a Chestnut Hill team has appeared in an NCAA Region Ranking.
Two more rankings will be released before the 64-team tournament field is announcement on March 6. The next ranking will be released next Wednesday.
Eight teams will make the NCAA East Region Tournament held March 11-14. Three automatic bids will be awarded to the three conference tournament champions (Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and East Coast Conference) and five teams will receive at-large berths based on the rankings.
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| EAST REGION |
|
|
|
|
| Rank |
School |
Overall
DII Record |
In-Region
Record |
| 1 |
Southern New Hampshire    |
17-5 |
16-4 |
| 2 |
Pace |
19-5 |
19-5 |
| 3 |
Chestnut Hill |
20-4 |
20-4 |
| 4 |
Jefferson |
19-5 |
19-5 |
| 5 |
Le Moyne |
15-4 |
15-3 |
| 6 |
Bentley |
11-6 |
11-4 |
| 7 |
University of the Sciences |
17-3 |
15-2 |
| 8 |
Daemen |
15-3 |
14-2 |
| 9 |
Stonehill |
10-7 |
10-7 |
| 10 |
Saint Anselm |
12-11 |
12-11 |
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About the Griffins
The Griffins enter Tuesday's game with an 22-4 overall record and an 15-1 CACC record following their 69-46 win over Wilmington at home on Saturday. Chestnut Hill's 22-4 overall record is the most wins ever in a single season in program history.
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Among the Griffins' active players, Point guardÂ
Cassie Sebold leads the team averaging 11.7 points per game. She also leads the team with 1279 assists (2
nd in CACC, 12
th in NCAA) and 29 steals.  Sebold is second on the team with 33 three-point field goals made on the season, while appearing in all but two games this season.  Cassie is shooting 84.2% from the free throw line (3
rd best mark in the CACC) and has two double doubles on the season.
Freshman
Emily Chmiel leads the team with ten double-doubles (2
nd in CACC) and is averaging 11.2 points per game. Chmiel is 2
nd  CACC in total blocks (42) and total rebounds (207) while ranking among the conference top eight in seven additional statistical categories, including blocks/game (3
rd, 1.62), and free throws made (8
th, 62). Chmiel is third on the team with 20 steals. Emily earned CACC Rookie of the Week honors for her performance during the week ending 2/6 and now has earned CACC Rookie of the Week honors five times while also being named CACC Defensive Player of the Week three and CACC player of the Week once
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Bri Hewlett moved into a starting role on 12/8 and has scored in double figures in 11 of the Griffins last 13 games.  Hewlett is averaging 9.1 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game. She notched her third consecutive double-double on Tuesday against Jefferson, scoring a career-high 24 points (9-15 FG, 5-7 3FG) while grabbing 11 rebounds. Twice the senior forward has grabbed 16 rebounds in a game, the last in a loss at Dominican on 2/9. Hewlett has five double-doubles on the season, second only to Chmiel who leads the team with 10. She has earned CACC Weekly honor roll accolades four times this season including the last three weeks.. Â
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Lauren Crim is one of three players to start every game this season and leads the team with 43 three-point field goals and has made a three-pointer in each of the Griffins last eight games. She is averaging 7.9 points per game. Crim is also shooting 83.0% from the free throw line and ranks among the top five in the CACC in assist/turnover ratio with a mark of 1.8
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Lindsey Lane has also started all 26 games and is shooting 44.1% from the field while averaging 6.2 points per game. Lane has made a season-high six field goals against Felician and repeated the mark in CHC's next game at Georgian Court. Lindsey had a career-high 15 points vs. Felician. Â
Abbey Spratt is the third Griffin to have started all 26 games and has been the backcourt defensive stalwart usually guarding one of the opponent's better players. Spratt is third on the team with 42 assists.
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Kaitlyn Carter has appeared in all 26 games, starting four. She is second on the team with 24 steals and 50 assists and is averaging 3.7 points/game.  She had a career-high five assists at Jefferson on Tuesday and had a career-high 16 points in the Griffins' win over Jefferson on Jan. 13. The sophomore guard has also been a stalwart on defense effectively shutting down a top offensive player on the opposing team in each of the last 11 games. Her efforts earned her CACC Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending January 16 when she held the league's leading scorer without a basket in CHC's win at Georgian Court.
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Last Time Out
Philadelphia, Pa. -  Morgan Sterner scored a career-high 12 points as the Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team shook off a very sluggish start and won for the 16
th time in their last 17 games, defeating Wilmington University 69-46 Saturday afternoon at Sorgenti Arena.
The Griffins improve to 22-4 overall and 15-1 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) games, maintaining their one game lead over the University of the Sciences for the CACC South Division title. Both Chestnut Hill and USciences have one game apiece to play before meeting each other in the regular season finale on February 26. Wilmington falls to 1-19 overall and 1-14 in league play.
Sterner (Northampton, Pa.)Â came off the bench and made five of six field goal attempts including a three point basket as she led the Griffins along withÂ
Lindsey Lane (Havertown, Pa.) with 12 points apiece.   Lane also added four rebounds and three assists. Â
Emily SekerakÂ
(New Tripoli, Pa.)Â andÂ
Kaitlyn Carter (Philadelphia, Pa.) were both a perfect 4-4 from the field for eight points apiece. Carter also added three assists while pulling down five rebounds.Â
Bri HewlettÂ
(North Wales, Pa.)Â andÂ
Brianna Rider (Nottingham, Md.) led the Griffins with six rebounds apiece whileÂ
Amber Washington (Bear, Del.) also added three assists to tie for team-high honors with Carter and Lane.
Chestnut Hill started off slowly, missing 12 of their first 14 shots as the Wildcats held a slim 6-5 lead for just over two minutes as the quarter was winding down. Â
Trinity Brittingham's (Middletown, Del.) three point basket with 1:20 to go put the Griffins back on top 8-6 and started an 8-2 run to end the quarter, capped by Sterner's traditional three-point play in the final minute, giving the Griffins a 13-8 lead.
Wilmington continued to stay within striking distance in the second quarter, closing within two before the Griffins closed out the quarter by making five of their last six shots to take a 32-24 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was by far the Griffins strongest as it has been in games all season long as they held the Wildcats scoreless for the first 7:15 while offensively producing an 8-0 run. The Wildcats did not get a field goal until there were 17 seconds left in the period and the Griffins finished the quarter outscoring the Wildcats 16-3 to take 48-27 lead. Highlighting the quarter was an 11-point effort from Lane, including her first three point field goal of the season.
The Griffins increased the lead to as many as 27 in the fourth quarter with the Wildcats never coming any closer than 20 the rest of the way.
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Hewlett Named to the CACC Women's Basketball Weekly Honor Roll
Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball playerÂ
Bri Hewlett has been named to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Honor Roll for her performance in last week's games.
This marks the fourth time that Hewlett has been recognized by the conference having been named to the weekly honor roll twice previously (February 1 & 14 and January 16)
In two games last week, Hewlett averaged 15 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 57.1% from the field. (12-21)
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Hewlett opened the week with a career high 24 points while grabbing 11 rebounds as the Griffins defeated Jefferson 65-60 to sweep the season series. The senior forward connected on nine of 15 shots from the field and  five of seven from three point range.
Playing just 17 minutes against Wilmington, Hewlett scored six points and grabbed six rebounds.
For the week, Hewlett scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. She also recorded a total of three assists
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The complete list of weekly honors earned by the Chestnut Hill Women's Basketball players is as follows:
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Moving up the Ranks
Lauren Crim moved into a tie for 11
th place on the Griffins all-time scoring list on Saturday with 879 points, equaling the total scored by Tara Walsh (2004-08 …Crim moved up to third place on the Griffins' all-time three point field goals made list and now has 18 for her career, passing Vicky Tumasz (180 , 2016-18)…
Cassie Sebold became just the third Griffins women's basketball player to score 1,200 or more points with her 18-point effort vs. Caldwell. She added 19 more points last week to give her 1,233 for her career needing 45 more points to pass Ruairi Sullivan (1,277 pts.; 1996-00) to move into second place on the Griffins' all-time list.
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Griffins and Lions Comparison
| Griffins |
|
|
|
Lions |
| 66.0 |
|
Pts/game |
|
68.2 |
| 55.0 |
|
Pts allowed/game |
|
66.1 |
| 39.4 |
|
FG% |
|
41.4 |
| 34.6 |
|
FG% Defense |
|
37.4 |
| 29.0 |
|
3PT FG % |
|
29.9 |
| 76.2 |
|
FT % |
|
67.1 |
| 44.0 |
|
Rebounds/game |
|
43.2 |
| 34.7 |
|
Rebounds allowed/gm. |
|
40.0 |
| 9.3 |
|
Rebound margin |
|
3.2 |
| 15.5 |
|
Assists/game |
|
17.7 |
| 6.4 |
 |
Steals/game |
 |
8.5 |
| 3.7 |
 |
Blocks/game |
 |
5.8 |
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Scouting the Lions
Georgian Court is 11-12 overall and has won five of its last six games.
Four players are averaging double figures for the Lions led by Anyssa Fields. Fields is averaging 17.1 points per game while averaging 8.3 rebounds per game. She leads the team with 44 three point field goals.
Erika Aspajo is averaging 13.8 points per game and leads the team with 99 assists and 50 steals while shooting 43% from the field. She was named CACC Rookie of the Week for her performance in last week's games.
Tian Addison is averaging 11.6 points per game while Leighanna Lister is averaging 10.5 points per game, rounding out the Lions' double figure scorers. Lister leads the team with 39 blocks and 206 rebounds (9.4/game) and is shooting 56.4% from the field. Addison is second on the team with 65 assists.
As a team, the Lions lead the CACC in assists/game (17.7) and blocked shots (134)
Last Time Out for Georgian Court
Lakewood, N.J. - Georgian Court University saw its season-long, five-game winning steak come to an abrupt halt Saturday as the Lions lost a 64-55 divisional decision to visiting Jefferson. Despite the setback, GCU still owns a slim half-game lead over Holy Family University for the fourth-and-final playoff spot.
After taking the first period a score of 18-17, the Rams (20-6, 12-4 CACC) rebounded to take the second frame, 16-11, and enter intermission with a four-point advantage (33-29). AnÂ
Erika Aspajo layup 1:14 into the third sliced the deficit to two (33-31), but that would be as close as the Lions would get the rest of the way as Jefferson carried a 29-11 surge through the remainder of the frame.
Leading by 10 heading into the fourth-and-final quarter, Jefferson's lead stayed in double-digits for the majority, reaching a high-water mark of 13 (63-50) with 0:46 to go.
Haley Meinel  paced the victors with 18 points in the win. Morgan Robinson and Emily Keefuss followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Anyssa Fields netted 18 points for the royal-and-gold, while Aspajo added 11 points of her own in the effort.
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