Boxscore
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Goldey-Beacom College women's basketball team earned its first victory of the season, 80-74 over the University of West Florida in the second game of the UWF Thanksgiving Classic on Sat. afternoon.
The Lightning (1-4) were led by five scorers in double-figures, including a career-high 23 points and nine rebounds by sophomore forward Irene Hudson, 19 points by redshirt-junior guard Jacinda Jones, and 12 points and a school-record 10 assists by Janae Weldon. Senior forward Arielle Alford had a career day defensively with eight blocks and three steals.
UWF, which lost its first game of the tournament to Henderson State, 63-49, fell to 3-2 on the season with the loss.
A close game for most of the afternoon, GBC was able to pull away with a well-timed 12-2 run late in the game in which Hudson scored six consecutive points to help give her team a comfortable 72-64 lead with just 2:26 left to play. The surge peaked at 15-4 with the Lightning ahead 75-66 with :59 left, as GBC would hold on for the 80-74 win.
The first half featured five ties and seven lead changes, but it was the Lightning who took a 33-32 advantage into the break on two made free-throws by Jones at the 1:04 mark. Jones scored 12 of her 19 in the first stanza, redshirt-sophomore guard Ashley Rosario scored 10 of her 14 and Alford rejected six shots and came up with three steals.
The host Argos scored the first four points of the second half to take a 36-33 lead and outscored the Lightning 6-3 to take a 38-35 lead at the 18:19 mark.
From there, a see-saw battle ensued involving nine ties and nine more lead changes, as both teams each led five different times during the half.
Hudson would score 15 of her 23 in the second half, Weldon 11 of her 17 while dishing out seven of her 10 assists, and sophomore forward Devonne Richardson scored all 10 of her points as the Lightning hit on 17-of-35 from the field (48.6%) and outscored UWF, 47-42.
The Lightning were outrebounded 25-20 in the second half but outscored the Argos 28-14 in the paint and forced 11 turnovers while coughing the ball up just five times. GBC scored 13 points off of turnovers in the half.
Neither team led by more than four until just under four minutes to go when Hudson converted a free-throw on a conventional three-point play to put the Lightning up five, 69-64 at 3:57. From that point on, GBC coasted to victory despite shooting 6-of-12 from the foul line in the final four minutes.
GBC's 80 points was the highest scoring output of the season and equaled last year's highest scoring effort against Post on Feb. 25, 2010. Under fourth-year head coach Jen Carleton, the Lightning are 5-0 when they score 80 or more.
A few Lightning players slid up on the school's all-time career records list with the win this afternoon. Weldon, who became the first Lightning player to reach a double-double with points and assists, surpassed Lindsay Hageman ('05) for second on the career assists list with 223. She is now just 23 assists shy of tying Natasha Scott (246) for the No. 1 spot.
Alford, with her nine rebounds today, surpassed Briana Maloney ('04) for third on the school's career rebounding list with 617. Already the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference's single-game record-holder for blocks with 12, she tied the second-place mark of eight with her performance today. Alford came into the season already the all-time career leader in blocks in school history and is now closing in on 150 blocks as she now has 148.
Jones, with three three-point field goals today, surpassed Hageman and Erin Calloway ('04), respectively, for third on the career three-point field goals list with 96. She also moved up to No. 4 on the career steals list with 118 and is just two shy of tying Scott's mark of 120 for third place.
The Lightning, after playing a very competitive non-conference schedule, will now begin CACC play with a visit to the Gallagher Center to take on the Philadelphia University Rams on Wed. night, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m.
University of West Florida Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
Guard – Nyesha Adams, Henderson State
Forward – Octavia Bearden, University of West Florida
Forward – Hannah DeGraffinreed, University of South Carolina Aiken
Forward – Gianna Woods, Henderson State (Most Valuable Player)
