LAKEWOOD, N.J. (Jan. 17, 2023) - The Georgian Court defense played their part in the Lions 61-54 win over Chestnut Hill Tuesday night. The Lions took the lead late in the third quarter and never looked back, outscoring the Griffins 35-29 in the second half. The win pushed the Lions to 5-9 on the season and 3-5 in the CACC.

How it Happened
• Defense was the key as they limited Chestnut Hill to just 36.4% shooting from the floor and 2-10 from behind the arc. Georgian Court didn't light it up either from distance, going just 3-12, but still shot 44% overall.
• The Lions also led in rebounding 40-38, and despite grabbing four fewer offensive boards, outscored the Griffins 11-6 in second-chance points.
• Both teams did a good job keeping the other off of the foul line. The Lions committed 12 fouls and CHC was 4-7 at the line. The Griffins were called for 11 fouls and the Lions managed to go 6-8 at the charity stripe.
• Turnovers were a problem in the first half. Georgian Court coughed it up 11 times, but did a better job in the second, losing the handle just seven. Chestnut Hill turned the ball over 14 times in 40 minutes.
• Scoring was at a premium in the first quarter. A Paula Perez-Fabregas three-point play at the 3:07 mark made it just a 9-6 game. Tian Addison and Jariah Patterson each scored in the closing minutes and after the first period, GCU led by five, 13-8.
• Things started to pick up though in the second, especially for Chestnut Hill. They started the frame on a 6-0 run as it took nearly four minutes for Georgian Court to score. A'nya Harper ended the scoring drought with a layup and a 15-14 lead. 
• Chestnut Hill regained the lead and extended it to four, 19-15, their largest lead of the game. But Harper and Patterson responded with back-to-back baskets to tie things at 19 with just under four minutes remaining in the half.
• Still tied at 21, Patterson finished off a three-point play as GCU regained the lead. She hit a jumper in the final minute as well and at the break, the Lions held a one-point lead, 26-25.
• The teams volleyed the lead back-and-forth a couple of times to start the second half. GCU was down two, 34-32, when Andjela Kremenovic tied things with a line drive jumper for two. Then Patterson buried a three for a 37-34 lead.
• In the final 75 seconds, Georgian Court closed the frame on a 7-0 run. Savawn Hughes scored five with a layup and a three pointer. At the buzzer, she collected an offensive rebound and finished just as the horn sounded to put the Lions up eight, 46-38. 
• Georgian Court never let the lead get below six points in the fourth quarter. They were outscored 16-15 in the frame, but that was just fine as the lead was at or above two possessions the rest of the way in a 61-54 win.

It Was Over When...
• After Emily Sekerak made it an eight point game, 54-46 with 5:55 to play, Patterson and Perez-Fabregas made back-to-back layups to push the lead to 12 and halted any semblence of a Griffin comeback.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Jariah Patterson had a night going 7-17 for 19 points with seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
• Tian Addison added 13 with nine assists and six rebounds.
• Paula Perez-Fabregas hit double-figures scoring 10.
• After missing the last game, Savawn Hughes came back to score nine on 4-7 shooting with six rebounds.

For the Griffins
• Chestnut Hill got points from 11 different players. Emily Sekerak was 5-6 overall for 10 points.
• Bri Hewell and Bri Rider each scored six. Rider added a team-high five boards.
• Nice moment for Lauren Crim who needed five points to reach 1,000 in her career and hit the milestone in the second quarter.

News and Notes
• This is the Lions first three-game winning streak of the season.
• Jariah Patterson's 19 points match a career-best. She also made her 50th career field goal. 
• Chestnut Hill's 54 points are the second-fewest GCU has allowed in a game this season.
• Tian Addison has 19 assists in her last two games. 
• The nine blocked shots for the Griffins are the most a team has had on GCU.

Up Next
• Georgian Court is on the road for the next two as they look to extend their winning streak to four. Next up is Bloomfield on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 1 p.m.