Lakewood, N.J.- The Georgian Court University women's basketball squad snapped a two-game slide and evened its record at 2-2 as the Lions, led by 27 points from Jess Placher, cruised to a 75-61 non-conference victory Saturday afternoon in the GCU Wellness Center.

Placher, who was kept scoreless in each of her first three appearances this season, exploded for an 8-for-14 shooting effort from the floor, which included a scalding 7-for-12 from beyond the three-point line. The junior also provided a perfect line of 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.

The Mavericks (0-4) owned an early 8-7 lead 5:13 into the game before the Lions (2-2) closed the opening quarter on a 20-7 run for a 27-15 advantage. The lead would not slip below seven points in the second stanza as the home team led at intermission, 39-30.

Mercy built some offensive momentum to open the third session as the Mavericks sliced the deficit to just five (42-37) 3:06 into the second half. However, a quick 8-0 GCU spurt, capped off by a Placher layup at the 5:10 mark, put the Lions ahead by 13 at 50-37. The visitors remained pesky as Mercy rallied for a 12-5 sprint to cut the score to 55-49 after 30 minutes of action.

The Lions (2-2) would lead by as little as five points (64-59) with just 3:27 remaining in regulation before Georgian Court turned on the jets for an 11-2 outburst to close out the GCU win.

GCU shot just under 50% (49.1%) from the field while Mercy managed a mark of only 29.7% (19-for-64).

Alliyah Berger joined Placher among the team's high-scorers as the senior netted 18 points (and a team-best eight rebounds) in 35 minutes. Jaelyn Tweedy contributed 12 points in the win.

Georgian Court now looks ahead to Tuesday when the Lions host Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) divisional rival, Holy Family University, Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m.