LAKEWOOD, NJ (Dec. 30, 2023) - Georgian Court Women's Basketball got a lift Saturday afternoon with the return of two sophomores. Imani Gillette returned from an eight-game absence and Leah Snisky after missing five. The duo combined for 20 points as Georgian Court grabbed their first win of the season, 63-61 over Goldey-Beacom. The win moves the Lions to 1-9 on the year and 1-1 in the CACC.

How it Happened
• There was a lot of back-and-forth action as the game featured 10 ties and 14 lead changes throughout. 
• Georgian Court was the better shooting team on this day, hitting 25-58 while Goldey-Beacom was just 33%, 16-48.
• Goldey-Beacom hung with the Lions thanks in part to their seven three-pointers. The Lions meanwhile were just 2-9 from beyond the arc.
• At the foul line Goldey-Beacom also double-up the Lions scoring 22-29 while GCU managed to go 11-23 at the stripe.
• The Lions also were the better rebounding team. They grabbed 41 including 17 offensive boards. GBC pulled down 24 boards.
• Each team turned the ball over plenty. The Lions lost the handle 19 times and the Lightning 21.
1st Quarter
• Georgian Court was red-hot from the jump, scoring twice in the first 30 seconds.
• After 4:15 of play, the Lions already had a double-digit lead, 11-1. That was their largest lead of the game, as the rest of the game was played within 10 points.
• Goldey-Beacom went on a 10-0 run and with 90 seconds left in the quarter, the game was tied.
• Samantha Jones made a jumper to reclaim the lead, but in the closing seconds, Rory Ciszkowski buried a three and the Lightning led by one, 14-13 after one.
2nd Quarter
• Scoring was at a premium in the second quarter. The two teams combined to go 4-23 from the floor during the frame. However Georgian Court sent Goldey-Beacom to the line with five personal fouls and the Lightning were 7-8.
• With the score tied at 19 following a Niyell McCargo free throw, the Lightning outscored GCU 5-2 in the final 1:37 to take a three-point lead into the break, 24-21.
3rd Quarter
• The game continued to go back-and-forth in the third quarter. Jada Jacobs was 1-2 at the line to tie the game with 5:50 to play in the period.
• Goldey-Beacom responded scoring five straight with a three-pointer and a jumper in a 28 second-span for their largest lead to that point, 34-29.
• Another three-pointer with 3:20 to play in period brought the lead to eight, 39-31.
• The lead was still seven on what looked to be the final possession of the quarter. With three seconds left, Imani Gillette was fouled and drained both free throws to make it a five-point game. Gillette then intercepted the inbounds pass and hit a buzzer-beating field goal to bring the lead down to three, 43-40, with one quarter left to play.
4th Quarter
• The lead changes were coming furiously with eight in the first 4:19 of the fourth quarter. Julia Whesper came off the bench to hit a three with 5:41 to play, giving the Lions a 53-52 lead.
• The score stayed that way for the next 2:37 as neither team found the bottom of the net. Genesis Garcia was fouled and went 2-2 at the line as the Lightning reclaimed a 54-53 lead.
• Jessenia Edwards tied the game again with a free throw, then Safiatu Kolliegbo gave GCU the lead for good, coming up with a steal and scoring the other way. 
• After another GBC turnover, Jada Jacobs made it a two-possession game with a jumper, 58-54.
• With 32 seconds to play, Marta Guilera hit a layup as the Lions went up six, but the Lightning weren't done just yet.
• They quickly hit a three to cut the lead in half. Guilera was 1-2 at the line putting the Lions back up four with 20 seconds.
• Katie Yoder sunk a pair of free throws before the Lions turned the ball over with 10 seconds left.
• The Lion defense held strong though and didn't allow the Lightning to get a shot off in the closing seconds as GCU held on for the 63-61 win.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Imani Gillette returned and scored a game-high 18 with 10 rebounds.
• Jada Jacobs added 12 points with seven rebounds, three assists, four steals and four blocked shots.
• Safiatu Kolliegbo scored 11 with four boards and three steals.
• Marta Guilera chipped in eight going 3-4 with five rebounds.

For the Lightning
• Rory Ciszkowski scored 16 going 4-9 from three with five rebounds.
• Katie Yoder scored 10 hitting 8-12 at the line and a team-best nine boards.
• Genesis Garcia added eight, making all six free throw attempts. 

News and Notes
• Imani Gillette's 18 are a new career-best. 
• Leah Snisky grabbed her 50th career rebound.
• This is the first time either team has won back-to-back games in the series since the 2018-19 season. Georgian Court is now 14-32 all-time against the Lightning. 
• The Lions eight blocked shots are the most in a game since the 2021-22 season when they had 11 against Assumption Dec. 20. They also had 11 against Goldey-Beacom that season, 19 days earlier on Dec. 1, 2021. 

Up Next
• Georgian Court won't have to travel far to their next road game. They'll head up Route 18 to West Long Branch where they'll play at Division I Monmouth News Years Day at 2 p.m.