WALTHAM, Mass. - Senior captain Alex Fiola (Fall River, Mass.) led three Owls in double figures with 14 points, but the No. 18 nationally ranked Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team was defeated by Holy Family, 71-61 in a NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal contest on Saturday.

The loss concludes the season for the Owls at 25-6, while Holy Family improves to 26-7 and moves to Monday's regional final.

Keshia Primo (Mississauga, Ontario) and Camille Fantini (Andover, Mass.) each added 10 points for the Owls.

For the second night in a row, the Owls looked to rally from a double digit second half deficit and come away with a win. Holy Family led by four at the half, 40-36 and extended its lead to 50-39 with a 10-3 run out of the locker room.

Southern Connecticut countered with eight straight points to get within three and closed to within two, 52-50, after Fiola hit a three-pointer with 11:37 left.

Both teams went cold for the next several minutes. The Owls had a chance to even the score at 55 with 7:30 left but had to settle for one of two free throws from the line, which left them still trailing by one. SCSU was just down two, 57-55, with 6:34 remaining, but Holy Family scored 14 of the game's final 20 points to secure its 13th straight win.

Southern Connecticut led for most of the first half and led by as many as seven in the opening frame. The second occurrence came with 8:17 remaining in the half and the Owls ahead, 29-22. However, Holy Family closed the half on an 18-7 spurt to take a four-point lead into the break.

Sylvonya Moore (Stockton, Calif.) and Moni Smith-Ocran (Bronx, N.Y.) each added eight points for the Owls. Moore added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Smith-Ocran had eight rebounds. Mariah Hankton (Upper Marlboro, Md.) chipped in seven points for the Owls.




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