Lauren Crim sank a three-point basket with five seconds remaining to give the Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team a 63-60 win over University of the Sciences and their first ever Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference division championship Saturday afternoon at USciences' Bobby Morgan Arena.

The win gives the Griffins a final regular season conference record of 16-2 and their first ever CACC South Division Championship.  Chestnut Hill is now 24-4 overall.  USciences finishes in second place in the division with a 15-3 conference record and a 20-4 overall mark.  The 16 conference wins is the most CACC wins in a season by the women's program.  The win also marks just the second time the Griffins have swept the season series from USciences (first was 2017-18)

The Griffins also secured the #1 overall seed in the upcoming CACC women's Basketball Championship Tournament and will host #4N Caldwell University on Tuesday, march 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Sorgenti Arena.

Crim's(Warrington, Pa.) three-point basket was her sixth of the game, equaling her season high.  The junior guard finished the game with 20 points ((7-10 FG, 6-7 3FG).  Freshman Emily Chmiel (Doylestown, Pa.) recorded her 11^th double-double of the season with 21 points (7-11 FG, 7-9 FT) and 10 rebounds, tying the school record for double-doubles in a season.  Senior Cassie Sebold (Willow Grove, Pa.) added eight points and a game-high six assists. Senior Bri Hewlett (North Wales, Pa.) grabbed nine rebounds while junior Lindsey Lane (Havertown, Pa.) added seven to go along with six points.

With the game tied in the final minutes, USciences had three chances to go ahead before Kaitlyn Carter (Philadelphia, Pa.) blocked Jess Huber's  (14 points) turnaround jump shot with 28 second left and Hewlett grabbed the rebound as Chestnut Hill quickly called timeout.  Bringing the ball upcourt, the Griffins ran the clock down to ten and called another timeout and then took the ball towards the baseline and called a third timeout with 7.5 seconds in order to be able to inbound along the baseline.  The inbound play got the ball to Crim who was wide open in the wing and sank the three-point shot with just five ticks on the clock.  The Devils got a shot off in the final seconds but it was off the mark as the Griffins hung on for the three-point win.

Leading up to the final second heroics was a series of back-and-forth runs by the two teams. The Griffins led by three heading into the fourth quarter, and scored the first six points to take a 50-41 lead with 7:41 remaining before the Devils countered with ten straight points to take a 51-50 lead with 4:36 left.  The lead changed hands three times over the next minute with Chestnut Hill grabbing a one-point lead on Morgan Sterner's (Northampton, Pa.) driving layup, 54-53.  Crim then put the Griffins up four, 57-53 following a USciences turnover.   The Devils again battled back, embarking on a 78-3 run  to tie the game at 60-60 with 1:36 left and took possession following a Griffins turnover with a chance to go ahead.  USciences had three chances on that possession to forge ahead before the Carter block set things up for the winning possession by the Griffins.

The game saw 13 lead changes and five ties throughout the 40 minutes of action.  USciences had opened the game with a 7-2 run with Huber scoring all seven points.  The Griffins finished the quarter on a 12-9 spurt to close within two 16-14. Crim's first three-point basket, two minutes into the second quarter gave the Griffins their first lead 21-19.  The lead changed hands six more times as the quarter progressed with the Griffins leading 31-30 at the half.

The third quarter was similar with the Devils leading no more than three at any one point and the Griffins no more than four at any given point with the team forging a three point lead on Chmiel's jumper in the paint with 13 seconds, 44-41 as the two teams headed into the final ten minutes of action.

For the game the Griffins shot 37.5% (21-56) from the field with the Devils slightly better at 41.4% (24-58).  Chestnut Hill held a big advantage on the free throw line, limiting the Devils to just three free throws the entire game (3-3) while making 13 of 17 from the charity stripe themselves.  The Griffins held a slight 37-34 edge rebounding wise  including 11-7 on the offensive glass, leading to a 10-3 advantage in the second chance points category.  Both teams committed just ten turnovers with Chestnut Hill scoring 16 points off USciences miscues and USciences scoring ten of CHC miscues.

The CACC Championship Tournament opens on Tuesday March 1 with the winner of the opening game advancing to the semi finals which will be held at Caldwell university on March 5.