NEW CASTLE, Del. – Fresh off the greatest win in program history, the Goldey-Beacom College women's basketball team visits its crosstown rival Wilmington University at the Pratt Center on Wed. night at 6 p.m.
Fans, tune in to 1450 WILM Newsradio on Wed. morning at 6:16 a.m., 7:16 a.m., 8:16 a.m. and 8:46 a.m. to listen to Allan Krakower's preview of the Goldey-Beacom vs. Wilmington men's and women's basketball matchups and to hear an interview with GBC head women's basketball coach Jen Carleton.
The Lightning (8-7, 5-2 CACC) shocked the entire Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference when they ended Holy Family University's NCAA Division II record 110-game regular season conference win streak and its 71-game win streak at the Campus Center with a monumental, 64-51 upset last Thurs.
Now they must focus their attention on the sixth-place Wildcats, who come in with a record of 2-14 (2-7 CACC) and would like nothing better than to crush their in-state rival's building momentum with an upset of their own.
Starting with a 65-46 loss to Goldey-Beacom at the Jones Center back on Dec. 7, Wilmington has lost eight of its last nine, including its last three. The Wildcats rank dead last in the league in scoring offense (49.2 avg./g), and scoring defense (74.1 points allowed avg./g). They are also the worst in the league in assist/turnover ratio at 0.37. The 'Cats turned the ball over 27 times in their last game (a 54-49 loss at home to Nyack).
Wilmington is led by senior captain, Ashley Davison. A 5-foot-4 guard, Davison averages a team-best 8.6 points per-game, ranks 7th in the league in assists (3.53 avg.), 5th in steals (2.67 per-game), and 11th in free-throw percentage (.808).
The last meeting between these two at the Jones Center saw Davison register just five points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field while committing six turnovers. Courtney Coleman came off the bench to lead all scorers with 15 in a losing effort.
Head coach Jen Carleton cleared her bench that night as 10 different Lightning players entered the scoring column, including a team-high 12 points from redshirt-sophomore guard Ashley Rosario.
GBC will try to win its third straight game while also attempting to win a fourth consecutive game in what has always been a very competitive rivalry series with Wilmington. The Lightning swept the Wildcats last season for the first time since 2006-07, winning both games by the identical score of 70-67. The last time the Lightning took four straight games in the series was during a span from 2002-03 to 2003-04.
The last time these two met at the Pratt Center was an epic double-overtime game won by the visiting Lightning in thrilling fashion. Devonne Richardson, just a freshman at the time, had a career-night, leading GBC with game-highs of 25 points and 15 rebounds.
