Amherst, N.Y. - Georgian Court University women's hoops saw its storybook season come to a close Saturday evening as the #3 seed Lions experienced a 73-54 defeat to #2 Daemen College in the semifinal round of the 2021 NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament.

The setback puts to a close the most successful campaign for the program since joining the Division II ranks in 2002-03. Finishing the year with a 9-2 mark, GCU won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular-season title with a perfect 7-0 record, advanced to the CACC championship game, cracked the national Top-25 (peaking as high as #17 in the D2SIDA Media Poll), and recorded its first-ever victory in the regionals, a Thursday win over #6 Concordia College (61-54)

Currently ranked #24 nationally, GCU opened the night on a positive note, jumping out to an early 15-9 advantage over the host-Wildcats with 5:47 left in the first quarter. Things would sour quickly for the Lions as Daemen dominated the remainder of the stanza by exploding for a 9-0 run to close the period ahead by three (18-15). The home team unleashed its offensive arsenal in the second quarter, pouring in 28 more points to coast into intermission with a healthy 46-30 advantage.

Daemen (13-2) only outpaced Georgian Court by three points (27-24) in second-half action, but the damage was already done as the Wildcats' lead never dipped below 16 points the rest of the way.

Anyssa Fields, the reigning CACC Player of the Year & Defensive Player of the Year, concludes a freshman season for the ages with an 18-point showing in her final game of the year. Andjela Kremenovic followed with 13 points while All-CACC selection, Tian Addison, recorded 12 points in the finale.

Leighanna Lister followed up Friday's historic triple-double performance with 10 boards, three rejections, and six total points.