Boxscore
PIKE CREEK, Del. – Despite outscoring Caldwell College by four in the second-half, the Goldey-Beacom College women's basketball team came up short, 65-62 Sat. night at the Jones Center in the battle of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference's two second-place divisional teams.
The Lightning of the South Division, fell to 9-8 overall and 7-3 in the league while the North Division's Caldwell Cougars improved to 11-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
GBC sophomore forward Irene Hudson led all scorers with 18 points (6-of-11 FG, 6-of-6 FT) and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in 26 minutes of work off the bench. Senior guard Janae Weldon and redshirt-sophomore guard Ashley Rosario were the two other double-figure Lightning scorers with 11 and 10, respectively. Both dished out four assists, apiece as well.
Caldwell also got great production from its bench as reserves Jeanette Anderson and Kirsty Leedham led the Cougars with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Torey Jones shot just 3-of-14 from the field but did make 7-of-11 at the stripe to finish with 14 points, and Kaitlyn Lambert registered 11 points, all of which came in the first half.
Lambert was virtually unstoppable in the first half as she made 5-of-8 from the field to lead all scorers with 11 and helped Caldwell claim a 30-23 lead at the break. The Lightning held a slight shooting (31-percent to 29-percent) and rebounding (24-22) edge, but were plagued by 13 turnovers, many of which were travelling violations.
Jones scored the game's first five points, and Caldwell controlled the lead for the entire first half. The Lightning, led by eight first-half points by Hudson, never let the lead reach double-figures and went into the break trailing by just seven after a jumper by senior forward Arielle Alford (nine points, six rebounds) and a defensive stop on the final possession of the half.
The Lightning scored six of the first eight points to open the second half and cut the Cougar lead to three after a 1-of-2 trip at the line by Alford at the 17:48 mark. Two consecutive Anderson lay-ups upped Caldwell's lead back to seven just 21 seconds later.
Trailing 41-36 at the 12:25 mark, the Lightning went on a 6-0 run to claim their first lead of the game, 42-41 with 10:37 left to play.
Five lead changes and six ties would ensue over the course of an exhilarating next seven minutes, but Gillian Felix (three points, seven rebounds) gave the Cougars the lead for good when she made 1-of-2 at the line to break a 56-56 tie at the 3:22 mark.
The next trip down the floor for the Lightning, redshirt-junior guard Jacinda Jones and senior guard Janae Weldon both had good looks at three-point field goals, but neither could get one to go. Jones and Weldon combined to shoot 2-for-10 from long-range on the night.
Right back down the floor came the Cougars as Leedham all but sealed the victory with a conventional three-point play to give Caldwell a 60-56 lead.
Still trailing by four, Weldon earned a trip to the line with 1:06 on the clock, and she made both to make it a two-point game, 60-58.
On the ensuing possession, the Lightning forced a Leedham miss, and Rosario was fouled during a fight for the rebound, putting her on the line for a one-and-one with 37 seconds remaining. She missed that first shot, and then GBC let precious time run off the clock before finally fouling Torey Jones with 24 seconds showing on the clock.
Jones sank both to give her team a 62-58 edge, but quickly Richardson answered at the other end with a layup for the Lightning to cut the lead to two again, 62-60.
Again Caldwell was able to get the ball in the hands of Jones (an 86-percent free-throw shooter coming into the game), and she canned another pair at the line to make it 64-60.
Weldon took the ball the length of the court and made a running bank-shot in just six seconds time to cut the lead to two, 64-62 with four seconds remaining, and then Hudson immediately fouled Jones on the inbounds pass.
Jones missed the first and made the second, giving GBC one last desperation chance with four seconds left in the game.
The Lightning quickly worked the ball up to Jacinda Jones who tried to lean into a Caldwell defender to draw a foul as she hoisted up a three-point prayer that fell way off the mark, but no foul was awarded on the play as time expired.
Next up for the Lightning, after an entire week of rest, is a visit to Bloomfield College, where they will take on the undefeated Lady Deacons (8-0 CACC). The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sat., Jan. 29.
