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Congratulations to the CACC Champions — The Holy Family University Women's Basketball Team!

HFU Women's Basketball team celebrating the CACC Championship


The No. 25 HFU women's basketball team never trailed as it defeated Jefferson 77-68 on Sunday afternoon to capture its first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship since 2015.

Tied at 48 following a 13-1 run by the Rams, Taylor Hinkle's 3-pointer with 2:54 to go in the third quarter gave the Tigers the lead for good.

A 9-2 surge to start the final period, capped by seven unanswered that started with a Kara Meredith triple, helped HFU re-establish a double-digit advantage, 63-53, on a Carolyn Prevost layup with 7:35 to play. 

Jefferson got as close as five twice, but Hinkle and Kaelah Carter had the responses as the Rams could never make it a single-possession game again. 

Individual Highlights

  • Hinkle led all players with 11 rebounds and added a team-high 17 points to capture CACC Tournament MVP with her third double-double in three games
    • She now ranks fifth in the program's single-season history with 200 defensive rebounds, seventh with 293 total rebounds and 10th with 90 offensive rebounds
  • Also named to the CACC All-Tournament Team were Skyler Searfoss and Prevost
    • Searfoss finished with 11 points and a game and career-high seven assists, while Prevost had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting
  • Carter poured in 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting and Jessica Riepe added 11 points on 4-of-6 field goals, including making 3-of-5 3-pointers
    • Riepe is now tied for seventh in the program's single-season history with 59 triples
  • Meredith contributed nine points off the bench

Inside the Box Score

Holy Family made five more 3-pointers, 8-3, and outscored Jefferson 36-26 in the paint

How it Happened

  • Back-to-back triples by Riepe and Meredith in the final two minutes of the first quarter established the first double-digit advantage, 23-13, before Jefferson closed out the scoring for an eight-point cushion following 10 minutes of play
  • The Rams fought back to within two, 28-26, with an 11-5 spurt to begin the second, but the Tigers countered with 10 unanswered - all of which were by Hinkle and Riepe – for a game-high 38-26 lead with 4:27 remaining in the first half
  • A Meredith free throw in the final second made it 44-35 entering the locker room
  • Carter matched that 12-point lead, 47-35, with a trifecta 56 seconds out of the break, only for Jefferson to come back with the 13-1 run to tie it up at 48 with 3:27 to go in the third period

Up Next

The HFU women's basketball team has earned the three seed in the NCAA East Regional that will be hosted by Northeast 10 (NE10) champion Bentley from March 14-17. 

HFU received an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after defeating Jefferson, 77-68, for its first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship since 2015. 

2016 was the last the last time the Tigers made an NCAA Tournament appearance. 

Holy Family will take on sixth-seeded Assumption in the first round on Friday at 12 p.m., in a rematch of a Nov. 23 game that Tigers won 56-50.

The East Region champion will advance to the Elite Eight hosted at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh on March 24.