Lakewood, N.J.- Double-doubles from juniors Ashiri Broadwater and Tahira Matthews paced the Georgian Court University offense as the women's basketball squad defeated visiting Mercy College, 74-69, Saturday afternoon in the Lions' home opener.

GCU improves to 1-3 on the young season while the Mavericks (0-1) drop their first contest of the 2013-14 campaign.

The first ten minutes of the opening period was controlled by Mercy as Maggie Salomone's (Fr.-Narragansett, R.I.) three-pointer at 11:14 gave the Mavericks a stanza-high seven-point lead at 27-20. The Lions' offense caught fire at that point as the home team mounted a 13-0 run to take a 33-27 lead, capped off by a Broadwater lay-up at 4:59. Mercy rallied off a mini spurt of 8-4 to move within a basket (33-27) at intermission.

With the contest tied at 45-45 at 5:55 into the second half, the Lions rallied for a 10-2 run to establish a 55-47 advantage with 11:01 remaining. Still maintaining the same eight-point lead (67-59) with 3:40 left on the clock, GCU received a minor scare from Mercy as the Mavericks cut the deficit to 71-69 with just 46 seconds to go. However, three GCU free throws in the closing ticks sealed the triumph.

Broadwater, with 20 points and ten rebounds, collected her third double-double in just four games this season. The Chicago, Illinois native also shot 12-for-14 from the charity stripe in 25 minutes of action. Matthews logged 17 points and a game-high 13 boards to earn her second double-double of the year.  The redshirt junior nailed a perfect nine of nine free throw attempts on the night. Keosha Parks delivered a balanced attack with nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

Salomone's 23 points (including 10-of-15 from the free throw line) topped all players while also contributing five boards, four assists, and three steals in her collegiate debut.  Tanayzha Augustine (Jr.-Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) racked up a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

GCU next plays Wednesday when Lincoln University visits the Wellness Center Arena at 6:00 p.m.