PHILADELPHIA – Forward Mary Newell (Lansdale, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) scored a team-high 22 points, including the first five points of overtime, as the Philadelphia University women's basketball team closed out the regular season with an 83-78 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) victory over Chestnut Hill Tuesday night in the Gallagher Center.

Philadelphia—the fifth-ranked team in the NCAA Division II East Region rankings—wraps up the regular season with an overall record of 22-6. The Rams went 18-1 against the CACC, the team's best conference record since the CACC adopted a 19-game conference schedule in 2009-10.

The Rams open the CACC Tournament with a first-round matchup against Nyack, the northern division four seed, on Saturday, Feb. 27 in the Gallagher Center at 2 p.m.

Newell, who also had seven rebounds and five steals, started the overtime with a wide-open three-footer after receiving a pass from a driving Kelsey Jones (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) on the first possession. After a defensive stop, Newell connected from the right block to make the score 73-69 with one minute gone. Newell capped her 5-0 mini-run with a 1-for-2 trip to the free throw line at the 3:33 mark.

Philadelphia's lead reached seven in the overtime when Jones knocked down two free throws with 35 seconds remaining. The Rams shot 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final 35 seconds to keep the Griffins (12-13, 10-9 CACC) at bay.

Tori Arnao (Newtown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) recorded 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals in the. Jessica Kaminski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) had a career-high 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

Philadelphia never trailed in the contest, leading by as many as 14 (52-38) on a Rachel Day (Horsham, Pa./Archbishop Wood) fast break layup with 4:24 to play in the third quarter. After the Rams took their 14-point lead, the Griffins scored 11 of the last 13 points in the quarter to cut the gap to 54-49.

In the final quarter, Philadelphia took a seven-point lead on a Jackie McCarron (Harleysville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) bucket on the Rams' opening possession. Chestnut Hill would eventually pull within a single possession, for the first time since the start second quarter, when Caity Kuhnen connected from 3-point range with 3:04 left to trim the Philadelphia lead to 65-62.

With the Philadelphia advantage sitting at 69-65, Lauren Milligan went 2-for-2 from the free throw line with 16 seconds on the clock to bring Chestnut Hill within two. Jones missed a pair of free throws when Philadelphia got the ball back and the Griffins' Jaeda Wildgoose grabbed the rebound. Mary Trossi—Chestnut Hill's leading scorer with 29 points—made a layup on the left baseline with 5.2 seconds left to send the game to overtime tied at 69.

Wildgoose finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Philadelphia shot 42.1 percent (32-of-76) from the field and scored 18 points on 23 Chestnut Hill turnovers. The Griffins connected on 43.9 percent (29-of-66) of their attempts.