Pace Women's Basketball Heads to East Region Championship

The NCAA Division II women's basketball team brought home a victory, 89-72, against the Holy Family University Tigers yesterday afternoon in the East Region semifinals, earning them a spot among the region's top 16 teams.

According to a statement from the school, "This will be Pace's third trip to the Sweet 16 and the second in Head Coach Carrie Seymour's career at Pace."

The team was part of the "Sweet 16" last in 2001, when they went on to compete in the "Elite Eight."

On Saturday, the Setters had a slow start, but picked up the pace and pulled ahead "with a 26-17 lead with 8:43 left in the opening half," and a "36-22 lead with 4:22 left in the half."

The Setters closed out the first half with a 44-32 lead against the Tigers.

"The Tigers would open the second half strong as they would close the gap to within eight points at 57-49 with 12:13 remaining in the game," the statement reads.

Brittany Huggins led the Setters' effort with 24 total points, while Brittany Shields added 20 of her own, plus seven rebounds.

Maral Javadifar contributed 13 points and four rebounds. Carol Johnson of Pace scored 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the team.

With a record of 24-8, the Setters will go on to the NCAA Division II East Region Championship tomorrow at 6 p.m., where they face off against Bentley University in Waltham, MA.