CSAC Tournament Championship: No. 1 Cabrini University Cavaliers (24-2, 16-0 CSAC) vs. No. 3 Neumann University Knights (20-7, 13-3 CSAC)
Saturday, February 24, 4pm
Nerney Field House

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2018 CSAC Women's Basketball Tournament Information
Whats at Stake
The Cavaliers and Pacers will play for the 2018 CSAC title and the league's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Tournament.  Saturday will mark just the second time the two clubs have met in the championship tilt, with the Blue and White coming out on top in the 2015-16 championship with a 74-64 final. 

Last Meeting: Cavs power past Knights, 69-60 (2/3/18)
The Cavs received big performances from sophomore Meghan Matthews, junior Nomi Washington and freshman Kate Lannon. Lannon tallied a team high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds, while Matthews picked up her third double-double of the year as she tied her career high with 14 rebounds and added 15 points. She narrowly missed a triple-double, in fact as she finished with a career high seven assists as well. Washington chipped in 17 points, marking her third consecutive contest in double figures. 

Both teams got off to a slow start as the game's first field goal wasn't until 2:12 left in the first quarter, courtesy of a layup from Matthews to give the Cavs a narrow 5-4 lead. A late layup from Lannon sent the Cavs into the second quarter with a 9-8 lead. 

The second stanza proved to be the difference for the Blue and White as they opened it with an 8-to-0 run to take a 17-8 lead. After both teams swapped baskets to make it 21-12, the Knights responded with a 6-to-2 run to cut their deficit to just five points. The Cavs answered with baskets from Washington, Lannon and Matthews to take a 29-20 lead heading into the half. All told, Cabrini held the Knights to just 3-of-12 from the floor in the second quarter while forcing seven turnovers. 

Cabrini would open up a game high 16 point lead to make it 60-44 with 6:06 left. A 14-to-6 run for the Knights proved to be too little too late as the Cabrini would hang on the for the 69-60 win.

Cabrini Last Time Out: Cavs complete fourth quarter comback to top Pacers (2/21/18)
The Cabrini women's basketball team saved their best for last as they used a 27-to-9 fourth quarter run to complete the comeback against Marywood University Wednesday evening.

Junior Nomi Washington recorded a game high 23 points and five steals to lead the Cavs, while sophomore Meghan Matthews finished with 17 points, seven boards and two steals.

Up 19-15 to start the second, Marywood junior Natasha Hessling added to the lead after she hit the front end of a pair of free throws, but freshman Ashley Tutzauer answered with a deep three to trim the Pacers lead to 20-18. A 7-to-0 Pacers run ensued as they pushed the lead to 27-18 with 4:19 to play in the half. A pair of layups from Matthews sparked an 11-to-1 run in favor of the Cavs to end the half as they grabbed their first lead since the seven minute mark in the first quarter. 

After swapping baskets for nearly the entire third quarter, the Pacers ripped off an 8-to-2 run to end the third with a 57-49 lead. With their backs against the wall, the Cavs answered with a 7-to-0 run to open the fourth and cut the Pacers' lead to 57-56 with 7:04 left to play. Back-to-back Marywood threes only delayed the inevitable as the Blue and White answered with a 21-to-6 fourth quarter run to flip the script and grab the 76-66 victory.

Neumann Last Time Out: Knights take down No.2 seed Griffins to advance to CSAC Final (2/21/18)
2018 CSAC Player of the Year Nafisa Saunders netted 27 points to lead the Knights, while senior Shauntel Williams added 15 points. Freshman Kristen Denoncour hauled in a team high 10 rebounds and chipped in nine points as well. 

Both teams stayed within striking distance throughout the first quarter with the Knights holding a slight 15-12 edge after the first stanza. 

A layup from freshman Minika Glenn midway through the second sparked a 19-to-2 Neumann run to give the Knights a 36-22 lead at the intermission. 

The Griffins came roaring back, however as they erased the 14 point Neumann lead by the end of the third to make it 45 all heading into the fourth quarter. 

The Knights opened the final quarter on an 8-2 run to retake the lead, 57-49. With under two minutes left in regulation, the Knight held just a 64-61 advantage. Back-to-back baskets by Williams and Saunders put the Knights back up by seven. A late three from Gwynedd proved to be too little, too late as the Knights held on for the 73-64 road victory. 

5 Factors for Cabrini

• The Cavs' 22 game win streak is the longest in program and CSAC history, breaking their own 19 game win streak during the 2012-13 season. 
• The Blue and White are outscoring their opponents by 26.6 points per game over their last five contests. 
• Before Wednesday night's 76-66 come-from-behind victory over Marywood, the last time the Cavaliers trailed in the fourth quarter was January 15th against Widener. 
• Cabrini boasts the conference's 2nd best scoring offense (71.5 ppg) and top ranked scoring defense (55.3 ppg). 
• The Cavs have proven deadly from beyond the arc as they shoot 33.1 percent as a team, the second best mark in the conference. 

5 Factors for Neumann

• The Knights boast the 2018 CSAC Player of the Year in junior Nafisa Saunders. Saunders averaged a CSAC best 18.6 points per game. 
• Neumann leads the conference with 18.2 offensive rebounds per game, nearly three more than the second best mark. 
• The Knights rank third in the CSAC in both scoring offense (70.6 ppg) and scoring defense (60.3 ppg). 
• Two of the Knights' three conference losses have come at the hands of the Blue and White. 
• Senior Lauren Legler knocks down 1.7 threes per game, the sixth highest mark in the conference.  

 

	Tale of the Tape
Cabrini		Neumann
24-2 (16-0 CSAC)	Record	15-11 (12-4 CSAC)
1st (South)	Conference Standings	2nd (North)
71.5	Points per Game	70.6
.397	FG Percentage	.382
.331	3-Point FG Percentage	.262
42.2	Rebounds per Game	43.0
15.9	Assists per Game	13.4
3.9	Blocked Shots per game	3.5
12.2	Steals per Game	13.2
16.3	Turnovers per Game	16.0

 

	Team Leaders
Kate Lannon (11.8)	Points	Nafisa Saunders (18.9)
Sabrina Hackendorn (6.7)	Rebounds	Minika Gless (6.7)
Cassidy Gallagher (3.3)	Assists	Shauntel Williams (2.9)
Meghan Matthews (1.0)	Blocks	Mariah Maciejewski (1.3)
Nomi Washington (3.1)	Steals	Minika Glenn (3.0)