Lakewood, N.J.- The Georgian Court University women's basketball squad won its third straight home contest Sunday afternoon as the Lions dismissed non-conference opponent, Dowling College, by a 61-55 mark in the GCU Wellness Center.

The Lions' home winning streak is the team's longest since winning three consecutive in "The Well" in January of the 2012-13 campaign.

Aside from the first basket of the contest, the Golden Lions (2-8) were tied with GCU or owned the lead as Dowling took the first session, 15-11. A pair of free throws by Kayla Hill (Fr.-Massapequa, N.Y.) provided the visitors a first quarter high-water mark of eight (14-6) with 2:14 remaining.

GCU (3-10) managed to battle back and tie the game on two separate occasions in the second, but the Golden Lions would not relent the advantage as they headed into the intermission with a 29-23 surplus.

Dowling appeared to break the affair open as the Golden Lions mounted a game-high,13-point advantage (40-27) 3:42 into the third period. However, an urgent 15-2 sprint by Georgian Court tied the ballgame for the fifth time on the day (42-42) with 3:05 remaining in the stanza. 

A three-pointer by Alliyah Berger with 1:35 left in the third provided the Lions their first lead (45-44) since the game's initial bucket.

With the game knotted for the seventh time (51-51) 3:31 into the final quarter, a Destiny Thompson jump shot with 4:16 left in regulation put GCU ahead, 53-51, a lead the home team would not relinquish. Georgian Court would hold Dowling at bay, outscoring its guest, 8-4, over the remaining time.

It proved to be double the fun for the Lions on the day as Berger (12 rebounds,11 points) and Thompson (14 rebounds,10 points) contributed double-doubles in the victory. Jaelyn Tweedy topped GCU with 13 points while Jada Atchison came within a helper (11 points, 9 assists) of her own double-double performance.

Krstina Surlan (Sr.-Novi Grad, Bosnia) paced the Golden Lions with a game-best 20 points and team-high 12 boards. Kaelan Ward (Jr.-East Hampton, N.Y.) followed with 15 points in 23 minutes off the bench while Hill provided 12 points and nine rebounds for Dowling.  

Georgian Court returns to CACC action this Wednesday afternoon when the Lions travel to Nyack College for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.