Philadelphia, Pa.- The Georgian Court University women's basketball squad, playing its final game of the calendar year, left it all on the court Saturday afternoon as the Lions dropped a close 78-71 decision against the first-place University of the Sciences in Bobby Morgan Arena.

GCU, with the defeat, dips to 2-9 (1-4 CACC), while the Devils remain perfect in conference play (4-0), improving to 9-2 overall.

With the score knotted at 8-8 early into the affair (14:54), the Devils rattled off a 6-0 spurt to go up 14-8 at 12:48. An Ashiri Broadwater jumper at 10:47 cut the USciences lead to 14-13 before a 9-2 run by the home team, capped by a Jessica Sylvester (Jr.-Trevose, Pa.) three-ball with 8:12 remaining, increased the Devils' lead to 23-15.

A pair of Brittany Baker free throws with 5:27 left before intermission brought GCU to within a basket at 23-21. USciences would counter with a 10-6 jab to build a 33-27 lead headed into the half.

Another Sylvester trey 23 seconds into the second stanza increased the Devils' advantage to a game-high nine points at 39-27. USciences seemed to be just passing the time until a Keosha Parks three-pointer with 8:27 on the clock gave the Lions a 54-53 lead and USciences a case of anxiety.

The GCU lead would be brief, however, as a Megan Wolf (So.-Philadelphia, Pa.) layup at 7:46 put USciences 55-54, a lead the Devils would not relinquish again. Two foul shots from Octivia Booker with 1:59 to go put the Lions down by a hoop at 71-69, but the home team rallied off a 7-2 closing run to seal the victory.

USciences' Brianne Traub (Jr.-Wayne, N.J.) highlighted all scorers with a game-high 28 points and team-leading six boards in 36 minutes of action. Wolf drained 20 points in 26 minutes of time while Sylvester provided 15 points, which included four three-pointers. Kaitlyn Schmid (Jr.-Howell, N.J.) paced the Devils with four assists and four steals. 

Broadwater topped the GCU lineup with her 16 points, shooting 8-for-17 from the floor. Tahira Matthews fell a rebound short (9 boards, 14 points) of a double-double while Parks collected 10 points and a team-high four assists. Inayah Williams led all players with her 10 rebounds on the day.

The Lions rest up and return to action on Saturday, January 4th with a 1:00 p.m. home game vs. Concordia University.