2012-13 Goldey-Beacom College Women's Basketball
Game 28: vs. No. 6 Holy Family (23-2, 17-1)
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013 | 1 p.m. | Joseph West Jones College Center (Wilmington, Del.)
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Complete Goldey-Beacom Game Notes in PDF Format
Opening Tip-Off
Looking to put a winning final touch on the regular season, the Lightning will play their second straight home game on Saturday afternoon when they welcome sixth-ranked and defending Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference champion Holy Family to the Joseph West Jones College Center in the regular season finale for both teams. Opening tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. and there will be a special ceremony to honor the Lightning's five seniors at 12:30 p.m. In addition, live stats and live video of Saturday's game will be available on the Lightning's official athletics website, www.gbcathletics.com.
Updating the Lightning
Now 19-8 overall and 16-2 in the CACC, the Lightning tied the school record for wins in a season after defeating Philadelphia University by a 68-57 margin on Tuesday night at the Jones Center. The Lightning, who defeated the Rams for the seventh time in the last eight meetings, jumped out to a 47-25 lead and shot 57.1 per cent from the field in the first half en route to the victory. Senior forward Irene Hudson led the Lightning to the win on Tuesday night by posting her second consecutive 20-point effort. Hudson, who scored 13 of her 20 points in the first half, made seven of nine shots from the floor and converted six of seven free throws. In addition, she added eight rebounds and set a career high with six assists. Hudson, who has scored in double figures in 12 of the Lightning's last 13 games, is the team's leading scorer with a 12.8 average while making 49.6 per cent of her field goal attempts, which ranks second in the CACC. Over the last five games, she has been very impressive by averaging 16.2 points per game while shooting 56.0 per cent from the field.
Scouting Holy Family
Riding an 11-game winning streak, the Tigers will enter Saturday's game with a 23-2 overall record and a 17-1 mark in the CACC. As a result of its 61-55 victory over Chestnut Hill on Tuesday night, Holy Family has already clinched at least a share of the CACC's South Division regular season title and the South Division's top seed in the CACC Tournament, which will begin next week. Senior guard Ana Cruz and senior center Erin Mann each scored a game-high 18 points in the victory on Tuesday night. Cruz contributed five rebounds, three assists and three steals while Mann grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds en route to her 10th “double double” of the season. The CACC's second-leading scorer with an 18.5 average, Mann is one of three Holy Family players who have started all 25 games this season. In addition, she has scored at least 10 points in 11 consecutive games, including five 20-point efforts.
Streaks, Storylines and Sidebars
• A win on Saturday afternoon would give the Lightning the first 20-win season in school history (men's or women's).
• A win over the Tigers on Saturday would also give the Lightning a share of the CACC South Division regular season title. It would mark the Lightning's first regular season CACC championship in school history.
• Over the last four years, the Lightning have a 73-40 (.646) record and have won at least 17 games in each season.
• The Lightning and Holy Family are the only CACC teams to win at least 17 games in each of the last four years.
• In addition, a win on Saturday would give the Lightning a 10-game win streak, which would extend the school record for consecutive victories that the Lightning set last Wednesday at Nyack with their seventh straight triumph.
• The Lightning would extend their school record for consecutive conference wins to 10 games with a victory over Holy Family.
• The Lightning are the only team in the CACC to have an undefeated record against the North Division this year after earning a 61-60 victory over Dominican on Saturday.
• The Lightning are now 4-2 this season in games decided by five points or less after their 61-60 win at Dominican last week.
• A victory over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon would give the Lightning 17 conference wins this year, which would extend the school record they set last Saturday at Dominican. The old record was 14 wins, which was set last year.
• After a five-game losing skid in November, the Lightning have won 16 of their last 19 games and will end the regular season with a five-game road winning streak.
• The Lightning are 7-1 in their last eight home games, including a five-game win streak.
• The Lightning also have an 11-2 record in the month of February over the last two seasons, including a 5-0 mark this year.
• The Lightning have clinched their fourth consecutive appearance in the CACC Tournament after their 61-47 victory over Felician on Feb. 2. They also clinched a home game for the quarterfinals on Mar. 2 as a result of their win at Nyack last week.
• The Lightning have now won 10 or more CACC games in four consecutive seasons. Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in 2003-04, the Lightning have won 10 or more conference games five times.
• The Lightning are ranked second in the CACC and fourth in NCAA Division II in opponent field goal percentage defense (.319). In conference games, the Lightning have limited opponents to a .282 field goal percentage, which leads the CACC.
• Goldey-Beacom has held its opponent to under 50 points in 8 of its last 12 games. The Lightning are 12-2 over the last two seasons when holding an opponent under 50 points, including an 8-1 mark this year.
• The Lightning have held the rebounding advantage in 14 of their last 17 games. In Tuesday's win over Philadelphia University, the Rams held a slim 43-41 advantage on the boards over the Lightning.
• The Lightning are 16-3 this season when leading at the intermission.
• The Lightning enter Saturday afternoon's game leading the CACC in fewest turnovers per game with a 16.2 average. In addition, they lead the CACC by averaging 14.9 made free throws per game.
• The Lightning have posted 46 blocked shots in their last eight games, including a season-high 10 blocks against Post on Jan. 26. The Lightning are ranked second in the CACC by averaging 4.9 blocked shots per game.
• After scoring 72 points in the win over Nyack on Feb. 13, the Lightning have won 16 consecutive games when scoring 70 or more points, including a perfect 7-0 record this year. The Lightning's last loss when scoring 70 or more points came against the University of the District of Columbia in an 86-74 setback on Nov. 19, 2011.
• Over the last five games, Goldey-Beacom opponents have made just 16 of 85 (.188) three-point field goal attempts. Philadelphia University made just 5 of 22 attempts from beyond the arc on Tuesday night. The Lightning rank second in the CACC in opponent three-point field goal percentage (.264) this year.
• Senior guard Ashley Rosario extended her school record for career games played by making her 112th career appearance in Tuesday's victory over Philadelphia University. The previous record was held by Janae Weldon (2007-11) and Toni Jones (2004-08), who each played in 110 games during their careers.
• Senior forward Irene Hudson has scored in double figures in 12 of her last 13 games. During that stretch, she is averaging 14.0 points per contest while making 52.8 per cent of her field goal attempts.
• In addition, Hudson has knocked down at least 50.0 per cent of her field goal attempts in five consecutive games. She made seven of nine shots from the floor en route to a 20-point effort against the Rams on Tuesday night.
• Senior guard Devonne Richardson enters Saturday's game needing just two assists to break her own single-season school record that she set last year. She ranks second in the CACC with 117 assists this year, including 86 assists in CACC games.
A Look Back at This Year's Earlier Meeting
Senior center Erin Mann scored 16 of her team-high 18 points in the second half as 14th-ranked Holy Family overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to earn its 13th win in the last 14 games, a 47-43 victory over the Lightning at the Campus Center. Mann, who posted her sixth “double double” of the season in the victory, tallied all 10 of her rebounds in the second half as the Tigers defeated the Lightning for the fourth straight time. While Mann led the Tigers to the victory, junior guard Maggie Seratelli came off the bench to contribute nine points. Senior guard Jacinda Jones led the Lightning in a losing effort by scoring a season-high 22 points after a 6-for-9 effort from the field. Senior forward Irene Hudson added 12 points with a team-high 10 rebounds. The Lightning held Holy Family to its lowest single-game scoring output since Mar. 6, 2010 in a 45-43 loss against Nyack in the CACC Championship Game.
Series Business: Holy Family
Since the start of the 2002-03 season, the Lightning and the Tigers have met 25 times in a series that Holy Family leads by a commanding 23-2 margin. In addition, the teams will be meeting for the eighth time in the last three seasons when the Lightning host Holy Family on Saturday afternoon. 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.
Too Close for Comfort
Of the Lightning's 19 victories this season, 10 of them have been decided by nine points or less. In addition, the Lightning have won three 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. In the Lightning's 61-60 win over Dominican on Feb. 16, senior guard Ashley Rosario scored on a lay-up as time expired to give Goldey-Beacom a one-point victory.
Richardson in Exclusive Company Among Active NCAA Players
In addition to owning the Goldey-Beacom career rebounding record, senior guard Devonne Richardson can also claim her place as one of the best active players in the country in career rebounds. Entering Saturday's game against No. 6 Holy Family, the Baltimore, Md. native is the only active Division II women's basketball player with at least 1,000 career rebounds. Richardson, who also ranks among the NCAA active career leaders in several other categories, ranks fourth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference this season by averaging 9.2 rebounds per game.
Richardson Records First “Triple Double” in Lightning's Win Over Post
Senior guard Devonne Richardson became the first player in Goldey-Beacom College women's basketball history to record a “triple double” when she accomplished the feat against Post University on Jan. 26. The Baltimore, Md. native scored a game-high 14 points with 11 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists while leading the Lightning to a 68-45 victory over the Eagles at the Jones Center. It marked the sixth “triple double” game in NCAA Division II this season and is believed to be the first by a player in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference since Feb. 15, 2005 when Leah Shumoski of the University of the Sciences scored 13 points with 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Lightning in an 80-70 victory.
What's Ahead for Goldey-Beacom
The Lightning will be idle until Saturday, Mar. 2 when they host a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference quarterfinal game at the Joseph West Jones College Center. The opponent will be determined following the conclusion of today's game, but the Lightning will face the third seed from the CACC's North Division. Opening tip-off for the CACC quarterfinal will be at 2 p.m.
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