Lakewood, N.J.- The Georgian Court University women's basketball squad owned the lead for a majority of the first half, but Holy Family University proved to be too strong as the visiting Tigers rebounded to take down the Lions, 65-52, in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) action in the GCU Wellness Center.

With the defeat, Georgian Court now owns a 3-19 overall mark (2-13 CACC) while Holy Family increases its conference record to 12-3 (14-8 on the season).

For the exception of a brief  5-4 Holy Family advantage 3:25 into the contest, the Lions possessed a share of the lead for the first 17:21 of the initial stanza. A Tahira Matthews jumper at 9:07 provided GCU with its second eight-point lead of the period at 23-15. The Tigers proceeded to mount a ferocious comeback, outscoring the home team, 13-4, over the remainder of the half to secure a 28-27 lead headed into intermission.

The outcome was never in question in the second frame as the Tigers won the period, 37-25, to ease to the CACC South Division triumph. Holy Family reached a highwater mark of 15 points on two separate occasions in the half, with the latter coming with 7:30 remaining after a Mary Ellen McCollum (Sr.-Abington, Pa.) free throw gave her team a 49-34 advantage.

GCU owned a 46-36 upper-hand in the rebounds column and outshot the Tigers at the charity stripe, 83.3% to 50%. Holy Family won the battle from the floor, however, hitting on 39.7% from the field compared to GCU's 31.5%.

Jill Conroy (Fr.-Brooklyn, N.Y.) paced the Holy Family offense with 13 points, four assists, and four steals. Erin Fenningham (So.-Philadelphia, Pa.) contributed 11 points, five boards, and four assists while Carolyne Heston (Sr.-Feasterville, Pa.) deposited 11 of her own.

For the Lions, Brittany Baker topped all players with her 17 points, hitting on seven of 11 attempts from the floor. The senior guard also swiped a team-best four steals. Matthews fell a rebound short of her fifth double-double of the year as she snared nine rebounds to go with her 16 points.

The Lions take to the road Friday evening with a CACC contest at Bloomfield College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.