PHILADELPHIA – Junior forward Mary Newell (Lansdale, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) nailed a 3-pointer from just over midcourt with 0.9 remaining to put the Philadelphia University women's basketball team in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Tournament championship game as the Rams defeated Caldwell 74-71 Friday afternoon in a semifinal round matchup in the Gallagher Center.

With the victory, Philadelphia—who is ranked seventh in the NCAA Division II East Region Rankings—improves to 22-7 and advances to its first CACC Tournament final since 2009.  The Rams take on Holy Family—a 38-32 winner over the University of the Sciences—for the conference title on Saturday, March 7 at 4 p.m.

The Rams and Tigers split the season series with each team winning on its home floor.

Philadelphia was trailing 71-68 when senior guard Monica Schacker (Doylestown, Pa./Germantown Academy) made an open 3-pointer from the left corner to knot the score at 71 with 32 seconds left.  On the ensuing Caldwell (19-11) possession, junior guard Bria Young (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter) intercepted a Jessica Coscia pass under the basket with just under six seconds left to give Philadelphia last shot.

After an Antoinette Pilla committed a foul at midcourt, the Rams had an inbound play with 3.1 seconds left. Schacker inbounded the ball to Newell, who took one dribble and buried her shot-put style attempt to give the Rams the victory. It was Newell's first career 3-pointer.

Philadelphia had a 58-48 lead at the 10:05 mark of the second half on a layup by the run of 12 straight points, capped off by a Pilla triple with 7:54 left, to move in front 60-58.

Jacobs led the Rams with 22 points, on 10-of-17 shooting, and a season-high seven assists. Schacker buried four of her nine 3-point attempts to end the day with 20 points. Junior forward Alex Heck (Willow Grove, Pa./Archbishop Wood) added 14 points, while junior forward Tori Arnao (Newtown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds.

Caldwell received 16 points and 17 rebounds from Emily Caswell. Pilla was the team's leading scorer with 22 points.