LAKEWOOD, NJ- The Georgian Court University basketball squad opened its 2011-12 campaign Monday evening, falling to the visiting Lions of Lincoln University, 57-54.

In front of a crowd that was anything but susurrant, GCU jumped out to and 11-4 advantage with 13:24 remaining in the first stanza. # Shauneia McPhearson#, in her Georgian Court debut, scored all 11 of those points, finishing with 17 overall.

That lead would dissipate, however, as Lincoln went up,14-13, on a Courtney Lucas (Fr.-Washington, D.C.)  free throw at 8:15. Lincoln would raise that lead to 30-21 on a free throw from Denyse Moore (Jr.-Hampton, VA) before entering the half up by a score of 30-23.

Lincoln (2-1) held Georgian Court (0-1) at bay until 8:07 remaining in regulation when Brittany Baker's layup put the home team ahead, 43-42. The advantage increased to 45-42 on a pair of free throws from Ebony Sellers at 7:43 before Lincoln mounted a comeback of its own and took the lead back for good at 46-45  on a jumper from Tahlar McIntosh (Jr.-Pittsburgh, PA) with 5:44 remaining.

Sellers, also making her GCU debut, led the team with 18 points and six assists, including a 6-for-8 effort from the charity stripe, in 32 minutes of action. McPhearson shot 7-for-16 from the field and snagged a team-high eight boards in 32 minutes of her own.

Moore drained a game-high 20 points for Lincoln to go along with a team-high five assists while Mfon Ekanem (Jr.-Springdale, MD) led all players with her 10 rebounds.

Georgian Court hits the road for its next five games, starting with what will be a non-conference tilt at Post University (1-1) Wednesday evening at 6PM.