Newark, Del. - The Georgian Court University women's basketball squad, after leading by 12 at the half and by nine with 3:55 remaining regulation, continues to struggle in the late minutes as Wilmington University left the Lions scratching their collective heads by escaping with an 86-83 CACC divisional victory, Saturday in the WU Athletics Complex.

GCU, ahead at halftime for the third straight contest, came out of intermission with a 38-26 advantage over the Wildcats (5-9, 2-4 CACC). Wilmington proceeded to outscore the Lions in the third quarter, 30-18, to tie the affair at 56-all heading into the fourth-and-final frame. The visitors came out hungry for the road win as Georgian Court opened a 10-point cushion (75-65) with a 19-9 run over the first 4:35 of the period.

Up by nine with 3:55 to go (77-68), and six at the 2:29 mark (81-75), GCU still looked to have enough to clinch its first conference triumph of the season (2-11, 0-6 CACC). Wilmington had other plans, however, as the Wildcats walloped the Lions with an 11-2 run over the remaining time to secure the shocking comeback and send GCU out into the cold empty-handed.

"This is a very upsetting loss," lamented GCU head coach, Jazz Perazic. "We knew what he had to do to win but didn't come through at crucial times; we just don't seem to be able to close games. We will continue to work. We must find a way."

Georgian Court owned the Wildcats from the floor, out-shooting the home team by a margin of 47.8% to 38.6%. Turnovers played a major role in the outcome as Wilmington tallied 23 points off 22 GCU miscues. The Lions netted eight points off only 10 WU mishaps.

Five Wildcats eclipsed double-digits in the wild win, topped by Macy Robinson's (Wilmington, Del.) double-double effort of 29 points and 10 boards. The junior also contributed five assists, four steals, and a pair of blocks in the victory.

Jess Placher provided a team season-best 28 points for GCU, shooting 10-of-23 from the field. Jaelyn Tweedy (22 points, 11 rebounds) and Nijiera Addison (11 points, 11 rebounds) each authored double-double performances for the Lions while Destiny Thompson poured in 15 in the setback.

Georgian Court returns home this Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. to host Concordia College in another CACC contest.