PHILADELPHIA – Exactly one week after earning the program's first ever victory over Philadelphia University, the Goldey-Beacom College women's basketball team will look to knock off the Rams again at the Gallagher Center Tues. night in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament quarterfinal round.
The game, which tips off at 7 p.m. (visit Penn Atlantic for a live webcast), will decide which team earns a trip to Caldwell College for the semifinal round on Friday.
Philadelphia U. (15-12, 13-6 CACC) and GBC (16-11, 12-7 CACC), the respective No. 2 and 3 seeds out the CACC South Division, split games this year, with the Rams nipping the Lightning, 71-69 in the conference opener at the Jones Center on Dec. 8, and GBC using a strong second-half effort to win the rematch, 65-59 on Feb. 23. The Lightning had never beaten PU in 11 meetings up until that game.
For GBC, this is the first CACC playoff appearance since the 2006-07 season and first under head coach Jen Carleton. The Lightning advanced to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07 under former head coach Jennifer Smith. Both seasons the Lightning ran into perennial conference powerhouse Holy Family and were sent home in the quarterfinals in 2006 and the semifinals in 2007 (when Carleton was serving as an assistant coach with the Tigers). GBC is 1-2 in the CACC playoffs to date.
Though the Lightning finished the season on a sour note with a 64-57 loss to Dominican, they had won their previous four games and eight of their last nine. In fact, after starting the season 1-7, GBC won 15 of its last 19 games to finish the season.
The Lightning are led by redshirt-sophomore guard Jacinda Jones and freshman forward Devonne Richardson. Jones, one of the league's most well-rounded players this season, ranks fifth in the league in scoring (16.0 ppg), fourth in steals (2.12 per-game), ninth in free-throw shooting (.802) and three-point field goal shooting (.340), and 13th in blocked shots (0.85). Jones was the catalyst in the victory over PU last week with a game-high 25 points, and she also led the team with 26 in the first meeting when GBC lost.
Richardson has emerged as a star in her rookie campaign, averaging just a shade under a double-double for the season with 10.7 ppg and 9.9 rpg. She ranks second in the league in rebounding and second in the league in steals (2.15 per-game). Richardson, who has nine double-double games overall, posted three consecutive double-doubles in the final three games of the regular season and was just honored as the conference rookie of the week for the third time this year.
Meanwhile, the Rams concluded a brutal final week of the season with a lopsided 73-41 win over the CACC North's top-team, Nyack. The week began last Tues. with the loss at home to GBC, followed by a tough loss at Holy Family, 64-42 on Friday afternoon. But in less than 24 hours, the Rams put together a dominant performance against the North Division's best team.
Philadelphia features the league's fourth-leading scorer (17.1 ppg) and rebounder (8.9 rpg) in Jessica Romano. They also boast Kate Brennan, the eighth-highest scorer in the league (14.3 ppg) and top free-throw shooter in the league (.857).
