2012-13 Goldey-Beacom College Women's Basketball
Game 18: at #14 Holy Family (12-2, 6-1)
Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013 | 6 p.m. | Campus Center (Philadelphia, Pa.)
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Complete Goldey-Beacom Game Notes in PDF Format
Opening Tip-Off
Looking to extend their two-game win streak, the Lightning will travel to Holy Family University on Thursday night to face the defending Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference champion and 14th-ranked Tigers in a key CACC South Division match-up. Opening tip-off between the Lightning and the Tigers at the Campus Center is slated for 6 p.m. In addition, live stats and video for Thursday's game will be available via the Tigers' official athletics website, athletics.holyfamily.edu.
Updating the Lightning
Now 10-7 overall and 7-1 in the CACC, the Lightning enter Thursday's game with a slim lead in the South Division standings after earning a convincing 71-44 victory over Wilmington University on Tuesday night in the Jones Center. The Lightning allowed a season-low 44 points en route to their eighth straight win over their local rivals. Senior guard Devonne Richardson led the Lightning to the victory by scoring 13 points with nine rebounds while setting the school record for career steals after a four-steal effort. Meanwhile, sophomore forward Chelsea Grover posted a season-high 10 points with nine rebounds. Richardson is the Lightning's leading scorer and rebounder by averaging 13.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. The Lightning have won seven of their last nine games after a five-game losing streak.
Scouting Holy Family
Currently ranked 14th in the latest edition of the USA Today/ESPN Division II Coaches Poll, the Tigers will be looking to rebound after having their 12-game win streak snapped on Saturday with a 53-52 CACC decision at Caldwell. It was the Tigers' first loss since they opened the season with a 78-64 loss at second-ranked Bentley on Nov. 11. Senior guards Ana Cruz and Molly Hanlon each scored 10 points in a losing effort for the Tigers. Cruz also contributed four assists while Hanlon had three assists and three rebounds. Meanwhile, senior forward Erin Mann, who has earned a pair of CACC Player of the Week honors this season, added eight points with six rebounds and three blocked shots. A first-team All-CACC selection last year, Mann is the Tigers' leading scorer by averaging 16.5 points per game and ranks second on the team with an 8.3 rebounding average. Meanwhile, senior forward Kelly Brady leads the Tigers with an 8.4 rebound per game average and is the team's third-leading scorer with an 8.6 average. Coach Mark Miller is in his fourth season as the Tigers' leader and has guided Holy Family to an outstanding 92-18 (.836) and four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
A Look Back at Last Year's Meetings
The Tigers claimed a pair of victories over the Lightning last season to extend their win streak to three straight games over Goldey-Beacom. After defeating the Lightning by a 76-51 margin in the first meeting at the Joseph West Jones College Center, the Tigers posted an 81-67 triumph in the second meeting at the Campus Center on Jan. 18. In the first meeting, senior guard Ana Cruz tallied a game-high 21 points, including a four-for-nine effort from three-point range, as the Tigers shot 53.6 per cent from the field in the second half en route to the 25-point win. Senior forward Irene Hudson had 12 points with 7 rebounds in a losing effort for the Lightning. In the second meeting, the Lightning got a 16-point, 13-rebound performance from senior guard Devonne Richardson, but were unable to overcome a 21-point effort from senior forward Erin Mann, including the 1,000th point of her college career, as the Tigers pulled away for the 81-67 victory. Mann also contributed eight rebounds in the victory.
Series Business: Holy Family
Since the start of the 2002-03 season, the Lightning and the Tigers have met 24 times in a series that Holy Family leads by a commanding 22-2 margin. In addition, the teams will be meeting for the seventh time in the last three seasons when the Lightning visit Holy Family on Thursday evening. The Lightning posted their only two wins in the series during the 2010-11 season when they earned a 64-51 victory in the regular season before winning the CACC Championship with a 66-54 triumph in the title game at the Campus Center. However, the Tigers avenged the CACC loss by defeating the Lightning in the NCAA Division II East Regional quarterfinals at Bentley just six days later. The Lightning have never beaten the Tigers at the Jones Center in 10 all-time meetings in Wilmington.
Lightning Look to Extend School Record CACC Win Streak
After defeating Wilmington by a 71-44 margin on Tuesday night, the Lightning broke the school record for consecutive conference victories by earning their seventh straight CACC win. The previous record was set last year when the Lightning won six straight CACC games from Jan. 24 to Feb. 9 before losing to Caldwell by a 67-56 margin.
Jones to Play in 100th Career Game
Senior guard Jacinda Jones is expected to become the 10th player in Goldey-Beacom College women's basketball history to play in 100 career games when the Lightning visit Holy Family on Thursday evening. In addition, she will become the fourth active player to reach the 100-game milestone, joining Devonne Richardson, Irene Hudson and Ashley Rosario. A sixth-year senior who has overcome a pair of knee injuries in her career, Jones enters Thursday's game as the third-leading scorer in school history with 1,298 points and also ranks second with 161 made three-point field goals. She has started 9 of 14 games this season for the Lightning.
Grand Theft Basketball
With four steals in the Lightning's 71-44 victory over Wilmington on Tuesday evening, senior guard Devonne Richardson became the Lightning's all-time steals leader. Entering Thursday's game against 14th-ranked Holy Family, the Baltimore, Md. native has 208 career steals, passing the school record of 205 steals set by Erin Calloway from 2000-04. With 46 steals this season, Richardson leads the CACC through games of Jan. 8 and has posted four or more steals in five games, including a season-high seven takeaways against Assumption on Nov. 17.
Richardson Seeks to Break GBC Rebound Record
After posting nine rebounds in the Lightning's 71-44 victory over Wilmington on Tuesday night, senior guard Devonne Richardson enters Thursday's game against Holy Family needing just 17 rebounds to become the school's career leader. Richardson, who ranks second in the CACC with 165 rebounds this season through games of Jan. 8, joined Kim Rowley (2003-07) as the only players in school history (men's or women's) with 1,000 career rebounds against Bloomfield last Saturday. Richardson has posted 10 or more rebounds in seven games this season, including a season-high 16 rebounds against Caldwell on Dec. 8.
Too Close for Comfort
Of the Lightning's 10 victories this season, six of them have been decided by seven points or less. In addition, the Lightning have won two of their games this year with a field goal in the closing seconds of regulation. On Nov. 12, senior guard Jacinda Jones gave Goldey-Beacom a 67-66 victory at Kutztown with a field goal with two seconds remaining. Senior guard Devonne Richardson scored on a lay-up with 5.8 seconds left in regulation on Dec. 8 to break a 53-53 tie against Caldwell.
What's Ahead for Goldey-Beacom
The Lightning will be idle until Tuesday, Jan. 15 when they return to the Joseph West Jones College Center to host Chestnut Hill in a CACC match-up at 6 p.m. It will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. Led by senior guard Devonne Richardson, the Lightning posted a 66-52 win in Philadelphia on Dec. 19.
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