The Lightning (0-1) held a decisive, 62-48 rebounding advantage and tied last year’s season-high of 19 assists as a team but were outshot by a small margin, 39.7 percent to 33.3 percent. Free-throw shooting also hurt GBC, particularly down the stretch in regulation, as the Lightning were outshot 46.7 percent to 50.0 percent at the stripe.
GBC was led by its trio of sophomore forwards. Akilah Sewell posted her first career double-double with career-highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds and pitched in three blocks and two steals defensively. Irene Hudson dropped in 15 points to go with eight rebounds (six on the offensive glass). And last year’s All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference honorable mention Devonne Richardson tallied eight points and pulled down a game-high 15 boards.
Senior guard Janae Weldon and redshirt-junior guard Jacinda Jones also each turned in 10 points as GBC had four score in double-figures for the night in a well-balanced scoring night. Senior forward Arielle Alford (nine rebounds, two blocks, two steals), Richardson, and Jones each dished out five assists for the night.
STAC, a member of the East Coast Conference who handed GBC a 72-58 season-opening loss last year in Sparkill, N.Y., improved to 2-1 on the season with all three games coming against Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opponents.
The Spartans were led offensively by Liharevic (22 points, nine rebounds), Briana Sloper (18 points, seven rebounds) and Bianca Kowgios (13 points, game-high eight assists). They took 34 shots from long-distance and made 12, which was four more than they had made through two games this season. Meanwhile, GBC struggled to 5-for-22 shooting from behind-the-arc.
The two teams were very equal statistically in the first half as both shot 11-for-35 from the field (31.4 percent) and both had 26 rebounds. However, STAC made three more three-point field goals and converted 8-of-10 from the line to Goldey-Beacom’s 6-of-14 and took a 35-30 lead at the break.
The Lightning outscored the Spartans 13-7 in the first four-and-a-half minutes of second half action, capped by a Janae Weldon layup and took their first lead since the 12:13 mark in the first half, 43-42 at the 15:35 mark.
But following a timeout by STAC head coach Kim Lusk, Liharevic connected on a three-pointer which began a 13-3 Spartan run and resulted in a nine-point STAC lead, 55-46 with a little over 11 minutes left to play.
Down seven after an Irene Hudson layup, Sewell would show off her shooting range and lead GBC on a 9-2 run, scoring all nine Lightning points to knot the score at 57 apiece. Two more ties would ensue before the Lightning went on a 6-0 surge to take a 65-59 lead, capped by a conventional three-point play by Jones at the 5:16 mark.
Over the next four minutes of play, Loper and Liharevic would lead the Spartans back on a 9-3 run to send the game to a tie at 68 with 1:05 left in regulation.
With the score tied at 68 apiece, Jones earned a trip to the line with 38 seconds showing on the clock and she sank both her free-throws to put her team in front, 70-68. The Lightning had a chance to ice the game with 18 seconds left in regulation with another trip to the foul-line, but missed both shots.
Liharevic was able to drive into the lane and get a layup to fall with six seconds left in regulation and tied the score at 70. Jones put up a three at the buzzer but it rimmed out and the game went to overtime.
The Lightning struck first in the overtime with a Jones layup about 20 seconds in, but Sloper answered for STAC with a trey 10 seconds later to put the Spartans in front.
Nearly a minute later, Weldon hit on one of her two three-pointers for the night to give the Lightning a 75-73 lead at the 3:34 mark. But five unanswered points, including a Kowgios jumper and the final three-point dagger by Liharevic, would do the Lightning in.
After two Kowgios misses at the line with 23 seconds showing on the clock, the Lightning pushed the ball past midcourt and quickly called a timeout with 18 seconds left. With a set play, they were able to swing the ball around to Jones who put up a three-point attempt but it was blocked by Leane Urbancik. Jones picked up the loose ball and hoisted another three-point attempt that bounced off the front of the rim. Richardson then gathered the offensive rebound off the Jones miss, ran back behind the three-point line and put up a third Lightning three-point attempt, but her shot rimmed out as well as time expired.
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