WILMINGTON, Del. (Dec. 3, 2024) - Everything was working for Georgian Court Women's Basketball in their CACC opener Tuesday night. The Lions were rolling from the start setting a season-high in points in their 78-49 victory over Wilmington. 

How it Happened
• Georgian Court shot incredibly well throughout the game. They shot 46% both overall and from behind the line. Interestingly, they also shot 46% from the free throw line, making their shooting percentage slash line (when rounded to the nearest whole number) 46%/46%/46%.
• Wilmington was held below 30% both overall and from three.
• The Wildcats did have a slight advantage on the glass. They grabbed 44 to the Lions 42.
• Georgian Court really limited the turnovers, just losing the ball 10 times and forcing 23 with 12 steals.
1st Quarter
• A Wildcat turnover started the game. That would be a theme for the night and GCU took advantage with Samantha Jones draining a three-pointer to get the Lions started.
• After some back-and-forth play, Wilmington hung around and tied the game at 12 with 4:05 left in the period.
• Another Wilmington turnover led to Niyell McCargo grabbing the lead back for the Lions.
• That kicked off a 6-2 run to end the period with GCU ahead 18-14.
2nd Quarter
• Of late GCU games have gotten out of hand in the second quarter. That happened once again tonight, only this time, it was the Lions pushing forward to extend their lead.
• Wilmington got back to within two at the outset of the quarter, but it was all Lions after that.
• Georgian Court used a 17-1 and led 35-17 with 3:33 left to play. Six different Lions scored during the stretch and Maria Stanescu connected on back-to-back three-pointers.
• The Wildcats scored the next five points, but McCargo ended the half with another bucket putting the Lions up 37-22 at the break. 
• Wilmington turned the ball over 15 times in the first half which led to 18 Georgian Court points. 
3rd Quarter
• Early in the second half, Wilmington was able to cut the lead down to 10 on a handful of occasions. 
• A missed free throw and offensive rebound gave GCU a second chance and Tyra Lovelock did not miss from behind the arc. Her three put the Lions back up 14, 47-33 with 3:59 to go in the frame.
• That three-pointer started an 11-5 run through the end of the quarter and GCU was on top 55-38 heading into the fourth.
• Destiny Wallace scored the final six points for GCU in the last two minutes.
4th Quarter
• Another three from Stanescu early in the fourth gave the Lions their first 20-point lead, 59-38
• The rout was on from there. The Lions scored 23 in the final frame, their most in any quarter.
• Over the final 4:55, GCU outscored the Wildcats 10-3 and finished off the win handedly, 78-49.

Lions Stat Leaders
• Destiny Wallace finished 7-9 overall for 15 points. 
• Maria Stanescu connected six times from behind the line and scored a game-high 20 points.
• Onnieya Martin added nine and six rebounds. 
• Karissa Smedley was also in double-figures with 10 points, six rebounds and eight assists. 
• Tyra Lovelock dished out 10 assists and grabbed seven rebounds while also scoring five points. 

For the Wildcats
• Mya Nisbet scored nine points.
• TyKeisha Hill grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds with six points. 
• Jasmine McDuffie scored 10 with six boards. 

News and Notes
• Lovelock's 10 assists are the most since Tian Addison hit double-figures three times in the 2022-23 season. The most recent, Feb. 8, 2023 against Goldey-Beacom. 
• Stanesu's six three-pointers are the most since Jada Atchison, March 5, 2019 against Caldwell. 
• Both Lovelock and Stanescu's assist and three-point totals equal the most in a game since the 2011-12 season, which is as far back as online NCAA data goes.
• The Lions only scored more than 78 points once last season. That was also against Wilmington when they put up 88. 
• GCU's 10 three-pointers are their most since the 2019-20 season. The last time they hit more than 10 was Dec. 2, 2017 against Jefferson. 
• Karissa Smedley made her 50th career field goal.

Up Next
• Georgian Court will look to keep the juice flowing tomorrow night as they finish up the road trip with a nonconference game at Lock Haven. Tip off is set for 5:30 pm.