PIKE CREEK, Del. – The Goldey-Beacom College men's and women's basketball team will take on Washington Adventist University in a Division II non-league double-header Thurs. night at the Joseph West Jones Center. The Lightning women (0-3) will play at 6 p.m., and the men (1-1) are scheduled to tip-off at approximately 8 p.m.

GBC Women (0-3) vs. WAU (0-6) – 6 p.m.

The women's basketball team has had over a week's rest since its last game (a 72-60 loss to West Chester on its home floor), and head coach Jen Carleton and her young squad look to start anew in December after three losses to start the season in November. They take on an 0-6 Shock team that has lost by an average margin of 42.5 points per contest.

This game marks the last of the non-league contests to begin the season before the conference schedule begins on Dec. 8 with the Lightning playing host to Philadelphia University. Therefore, the Lightning hope to not only get in the win column but also get on track before it begins conference play.

Redshirt-sophomore guard Jacinda Jones has played spectacular since returning to the Lightning lineup after missing all of last season with an ACL injury. Through three games this year, she is averaging 17.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per night, and has also pitched in eight assists, six blocks and five steals.

Jones has also had a lot of help from her starting backcourt mate, Ashley Rosario. One of three freshmen in Carleton's starting lineup, Rosario has made her presence felt on both ends of the floor. She currently averages 6.7 ppg and 4.3 rpg to go with a team-high seven steals.

With star junior forward Arielle Alford out indefinitely with an injury, Carleton has rotated in freshmen forwards Irene Hudson, Akilah Sewell and Devonne Richardson in the Lightning's frontcourt. All three have filled in nicely for Alford, combining to score 24.0 points and grab 24.3 rebounds per night. All totaled, they have collectively pitched in 13 steals, and Sewell is tied with Jones for the team lead with six blocks. These three are a big reason why the Lightning have outrebounded all three of their opponents by an average margin of 10.0.

The Lightning's opponent, WAU is most recently coming off a 76-44 loss at Catholic University. The Shock are led by guard Kayla Harrison, who leads the team with 9.5 ppg and ranks second on the team in rebounding with 4.0 rpg. Forward Erin Duffie, at 5'11 is the team's leading rebounder with 6.8 boards per night. She also averages 6.7 ppg.

The two schools met last season when WAU was still known as Columbia Union College. Then freshman guard Evebonee Acosta came off the bench and led the Lightning to a dominating, 84-51 victory at the Jones Center on Dec. 1, 2008. Acosta torched the Shock for a career-high 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field, including 5-of-7 from three-point range.

GBC Men (1-1) vs. WAU (1-3) - 8 p.m.

The Lightning men are coming off a thrilling 89-80 overtime road win at the PSAC's Shippensburg University on Mon. night. The win marked GBC's first of the season, evening its record after a season-opening home loss to West Chester.

Senior guard Kyle White, who scored 455 points in his first season with the Lightning last year, has already gone over 500 points in his career by scoring 20 and 28 points, respectively in the Lightning's two games this season. White was an enormous factor in GBC's win Mon. night, as two of his 28 points came as he took an inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast to make a layup with one second left in regulation to tie the score and force overtime.

GBC currently has four players averaging double-figures in scoring: White (24.0 ppg), junior guard Azeez Ellegood (16.5 ppg), junior forward Terrence Parkes (15.5 ppg), and junior guard Sam McDuffie (12.0 ppg). The Lightning also boast an .831 free-throw shooting percentage for the season after putting on a clinic Mon. night when they hit 22-of-24 from the charity stripe, including 7-of-8 in the overtime period.

Meanwhile, WAU enters this game with a record of 1-3 after suffering three straight losses. The Shock opened the season with a 135-67 waxing of Washington Bible College, but have since lost three in a row, most recently falling 137-81 at home to Pfeiffer University.

The Shock also feature four scorers that average double-figures, with 6'5 forward Khalid Martin leading the team with 16.3 ppg and 7.8 rpg. Branden Washington, a 6'4 forward, leads the team in rebounding with 8.8 boards per contest.   

The two schools met last season on Dec. 3, 2008 at the Jones Center, and GBC used a second-half comeback to win the game by two, 73-71. Known then as the Columbia Union Pioneers, WAU  took a 41-36 halftime lead on the strength of 89 percent foul-shooting. But White (23 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, three assists) and Anthony Parham (16 points, 11 rebounds) were too much as the Lightning fought back in the second half to take the lead and ultimately win the game. However, the outcome was still in doubt until a last-second Columbia Union layup fell short.