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PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS: WINNING COMES NATURALLY FOR HOLY FAMILY WOMEN

February 7, 2008

Courtesy of Chris Banks, Philadelphia Daily News

With 20 games down and seven to go in the regular season, the Lady Tigers of Holy Family University look to stay unbeaten, but, surprisingly, that is the least of their worries.

Good teams and good records aren't new to this program. This is the 13th 20-plus win season since the arrival of coach Mike McLaughlin in 1995. The team is anxious to get past the regional finals, where the season ended last year, then hopefully play on into the big dance.

Last year Holy Family lost to a dominating Southern Connecticut team that eventually won the NCAA Division II championship. The Lady Tigers look at the difference between that team and this year's, number one being experience, and two, dedication.

"And consistency," said McLaughlin. "At most schools, kids come and go. We have kids that stay in the program and that know the program."

There also are a number of players who are extremely athletic on defense. The Tigers have been shutting down opponents with an aggressive man-to-man defense, which they play almost the whole game.

That's normally how their games are won, by putting pressure on the ball early and often, a pursuit that fatigues most teams. And the offense feeds off the defense.

This year's Tigers have more depth, with more versatile scorers.

"The make-up of scorers this year is a little different," McLaughlin said.

"Our post players are very versatile," said senior point guard Kelly Killion, a 5-foot-6 senior from Camden Catholic and the reigning MVP of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. "You get a freshman like Cathy Carr and Christine McCollum that can pull away from the basket. They can power the ball and shoot the three. Teams can't defend that."

Carr, a 6-0 power forward from Bernardsville, N.J., leads the team in scoring at 16.1 points per game, fourth in the CACC. She is among three contributing freshman in the eight-player rotation.

Holy Family has been ranked in the top spot of the NCAA Northeast Regional rankings for the past 2 weeks, and is also ranked seventh in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, at 20-0 overall and 11-0 in the CACC following a 81-64 victory Tuesday at Wilmington (Del.) University. The Tigers look to continue the perfect season when they visit Georgian Court in Lakewood, N.J., tonight.

But again, records don't matter.

"We respect every opponent on our schedule. Top seed or lowest seed, we're coming out on top," Killion said.