PIKE CREEK, Del. – With a brutal non-conference schedule complete, head coach Jen Carleton's Goldey-Beacom College women's basketball team enters back into Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play to begin the 2011 calendar year with a 6 p.m. tip-off Thurs. night at the Jones Center against the USciences Devils.
For fans who cannot make the game, there will be a free live webcast via PennAtlantic that is available by using the link on the calendar on the right of the website. Announcer Chris DiGiacomo will have the call.
The Lightning (5-6) are 3-1 in league play this year with all four CACC games coming against South Division foes. USciences, meanwhile, comes in with a 6-3 overall record and a 2-1 mark in CACC play.
Against mutual league opponents, both teams dominated Wilmington (GBC won 65-46 at home on Dec. 7, USciences won 71-27 at Wilmington on Dec. 11), and both suffered lopsided losses to pre-season favorite and No. 15 ranked Holy Family.
Out of conference, both beat Cheyney, but USciences was able to hand Kutztown a 64-62 loss on Dec. 4, 11 days after the Lightning fell prey to the Golden Bears, 82-69.Along the way to an impressive 4-2 non-conference mark, the Devils were also able to knock off nationally-ranked Millersville University, 68-62 on Dec. 9.
This matchup pits the conference's leading scorer and fifth-leading scorer in the nation, senior guard Caitlin Shaw (21.0 ppg) of USciences against GBC's redshirt-junior guard Jacinda Jones, the sixth-leading scorer in the conference at 14.7 points per-game.
Rebounding could prove pivotal as USciences comes in tops in the league in defensive rebounding while GBC is third in offensive rebounding. Shaw also ranks ninth in the conference in that category, while the Lightning feature the second-best rebounder in Devonne Richardson (10.8 rpg).
The biggest discrepancy between these two teams may perhaps be free-throw shooting, as the Devils lead the league in free-throw shooting percentage, making 76.3 percent at the stripe, while the Lightning are next-to-last in that category at 60.9 percent.
USciences holds a decisive 11-5 advantage in the all-time series, benefitting from six straight wins from 2003-04 to 2005-06. The Devils were riding a three-game win-streak in the series after winning the first of two meetings in 2009-10, but it was the Lightning who captured a 56-52 victory on Feb. 4 at the Jones Center in the last meeting.
Richardson's 16 led the Lightning who nearly saw a 15-point second half lead melt away when the Devils scored 21 of the next 29 points to pull within 50-48. Shaw led all scorers with 20 points, including an 8-of-10 shooting night at the foul line.
