City of Basketball Love

By Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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CHESTNUT HILL — No rain, no flowers.

Those four words, inked onto Bridie McCann’s right arm as a tattoo just above her elbow, provide plenty of insight into the Chestnut Hill College guard’s disposition and outlook. McCann believes even if things are bad, as they were for three-plus quarters of Tuesday’s CACC quarterfinal against Dominican University, there’s always something good that will come of it.

The newly minted CACC Rookie of the Year got her flowers late, hitting two big shots and grabbing the game’s pivotal rebound as the Griffins outlasted the Chargers 51-49 at Sorgenti Arena.

“You can’t have your good days without your bad,” McCann said.

While she hails from Drexel Hill, the Bonner-Prendie grad took the long way to Chestnut Hill. Just before graduating high school as a three-sport athlete in 2022 - McCann also played field hockey and softball for the Pandas - the sharp-shooting guard accepted a walk-on spot at Siena.

Things just didn’t pan out in New York, McCann made two appearances before she opted to leave Siena and come back home. One of six siblings, McCann said family holds a high priority - her mom and her grandmother were her first two calls after finding out she was named Rookie of the Year - so she started looking for a new home.

“This is everything I ever wanted,” McCann said. “What I’m experiencing from the community, my team, coaches, I couldn’t ask for anything else. I’m more than happy that this was my choice to come here.”

McCann committed to play for Jim Connolly and the Griffins in late April of last year. Within a matter of weeks, Connolly had stepped down and Reggie Daniels had been named as his replacement but no rain, no flowers and McCann was still sold on Chestnut Hill.

“I knew I wanted to start somewhere new,” McCann said. “With a new coach coming in, it meant we were all new. I was upset about Jim leaving, he’s a great guy but I knew this was where I wanted to go and nothing was stopping me.”

Daniels, who came to CHC from Binghamton, had gotten a bit of a preview of McCann while both were still in New York back in December of 2022. Binghamton had played Siena that season and while McCann didn’t get into the game, Daniels remembered watching the 5-foot-6 guard warming up and thought she had some game to her.

“Bridie’s special,” Daniels said. “Her personality, she’s very bubbly. She’s always loud, she’s always singing, the one who always brings the energy.

“Jim was kind of the liaison to getting her here and it’s definitely worked out.”

McCann absorbs some good-natured ribbing from her teammates and coaches about being old for a freshman, which she usually laughs off. The guard, who is considered a freshman in terms of eligibility, ingrained herself right away with her new team.

McCann’s older sister Maeve played basketball at Jefferson, so Bridie had an idea the CACC would deliver what she was looking for. At a smaller college like Chestnut Hill, a large part of the student body are also athletes - the Griffins men’s lacrosse team forming a vocal student section Tuesday - so it’s felt like playing at Bonner-Prendie again and allowed her love for the game to flower again.

“I have to say that’s the number one thing,” McCann said. “From high school, I came from a community like Chestnut Hill where everyone’s supporting you and being able to come back to that, I found the love for the game again and it’s been everything I could have imagined.”

McCann looked at the entire year as a new start. She still set the bar high for herself, wanting to push to be the CACC’s top rookie and make an all-conference team.

It rained most of the day Tuesday in the Philadelphia area, although a flower found its way to bloom as McCann not only got Rookie of the Year, but a spot on the CACC’s First Team. The news came as an unexpected but welcome surprise. 

“I was cooking,” McCann said with a laugh. “Our coach texted our group chat announcing it, so I called my mom right away, then my grandmom and texted our family group chat. It was a late breakfast, some eggs and avocado toast.”

Things started well for McCann on Tuesday, she was introduced to the home crowd as the Rookie of the Year and caught nothing but net on a three as her first look of the game. From there, it was a rough go offensively until the final minutes as the guard just couldn’t seem to convert on any of her looks.

McCann, who finished the regular season shooting 41.8 percent on threes, missed her next six from long range. She’d rally in the fourth, much like her team, hitting 2-of-3 from deep in the quarter including what ended up as the game-winner.

No rain, no flowers and even with her shot off the mark, McCann’s team kept telling her to be a shooter.

“My shot wasn’t falling, but I just keep shooting,” McCann said. “Eventually, I know it’s going to go in and that’s what gets me to my next shot.”

McCann has hit some dagger shots in her career but the freshman agreed that Tuesday probably marked her first dagger rebound. The guard ran down a missed three with 21 seconds left and the Griffins clinging to a two-point lead, while it didn’t win the game, it gave Chestnut Hill room to run off some precious clock before surviving a last look by the Chargers.

“I have to say for not being much of a rebounder, that did come out of nowhere,” McCann said. “I knew the shot was going up and someone had to go board it. I’m not usually one who does it, but it saw it go and I had a good eye on it.”

Chestnut Hill will face Goldey-Beacom in Saturday’s CACC semifinals at Caldwell University after the No. 4 seed Lightning knocked off top seed Post.

McCann’s navigated some rainy days over the past two years and there will surely be more to come, but the flower she’s planted at Chestnut Hill will still be there after all of them pass by.

“I think it’s going to be great,” McCann said. “This year’s been awesome and I think we can keep moving forward. We just have to keep our momentum into this weekend and stay focused.”  

CHESTNUT HILL 51, DOMINICAN 49

It didn’t take Reggie Daniels long to coin a nickname for Kaitlyn Carter.

The fifth-year Chestnut Hill guard by way of Penn Charter is as tough as they come, evidenced by her playing soccer, basketball and lacrosse for the Griffins last year. She’s also a force when she gets going, something CHC’s first-year coaching staff has tried to push her to do more of.

Tuesday, “D.H.K.” got it going late, scoring seven points in the fourth as part of a big time double-double as the Griffins picked up their first CACC playoff win since 2021-22.

“I call her D.H.K. for Down Hill Kait,” Daniels said. “When Kait drives downhill and gets to the rim, she scores every time. She’s strong, she’s physical, she can guard bigger kids.”

The Griffins didn’t have their prettiest game or their cleanest game, going through several prolonged scoring droughts. A good spell by Caraline Herb in the first half kept the Chargers from pulling away at the break and despite their miscues, the Griffins were in striking distance going into the fourth.

“I said ‘just hoop,’” Daniels said. “Fourth quarter, we made one minor adjustment and went small, then we just started playing ball.”

Carter had an advantage over most of her teammates on Tuesday, having been a part of that 21-22 team and a starter in last year’s CACC quarterfinal loss to Dominican, so she knew what a playoff game was like. When Chestnut Hill went into the fourth quarter down by six, the fifth-year put her head down and powered to the rim to set a tone. 

She compiled 14 points and 14 rebounds, plus a rather emphatic block in the first half, while also playing as CHC’s “big” in the fourth quarter. Carter hit the big shot, a straightaway three off an Avery White feed that brought the Griffins all the way back to a 46-44 lead with 5:04 left they wouldn’t give back.

Carter’s last score came a few possessions later, a strong drive ending with a nifty reverse layup that had a few of the lacrosse players hollering in approval.

“We’ve been battling all year with what her role is but I think today she accepted her role that she’s a driver first,” Daniels said. “When she drives, she rebounds, plays physically tough, then she takes a three and she makes it because she’s going now. 

“Even though it’s her last year, we’re still pushing her to be even better.”

Dominican made it interesting, scoring four straight to get within 51-49, then getting a final possession after an offensive foul on the Griffins with nine seconds left. CHC was able to hold and advance to its second semifinal in the last three years.

“We kept getting stops, kept getting stops then, oh, we scored and now the confidence gets going and shots start to fall magically,” Daniels said. “When we’re playing harder, the shots start going in, now we’re rolling it back to the defensive end. For us, it’s just defense and it’s been working for us all year.”