Lightning Women’s Basketball Seeks First Win at Kutztown Tuesday

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – After two disappointing narrow losses to begin the 2010-11 season, the Goldey-Beacom College women’s basketball team will attempt to get into the win column Tues. night as the Lightning visit the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s Kutztown University for a 6 p.m. tipoff at Keystone Hall.

Tues. night’s matchup will mark the first ever meeting between these two women’s basketball programs.

The Lightning (0-2) have been plagued by poor foul shooting (they are shooting 48.9 percent as a team) as both of their losses have come by three-point margins, the first of which went to overtime. They most recently lost 72-69 at the PSAC’s Lock Haven on Sun. afternoon.

Head coach Jen Carleton’s squad is no stranger to adversity as 10 players on this year’s squad suffered through a 1-7 start to the 2009-10 campaign before the Lightning bounced back to win 15 of their final 19 regular season games and advanced to the conference semifinal game.

Carleton and the Lightning will look to right the ship tomorrow night against another tough PSAC team in Kutztown. The Golden Bears return nine players, including two starters from last year’s 19-10 squad that, like the Lightning, advanced to their respective conference semifinal. They were picked to finish fourth in the PSAC East in this year’s pre-season PSAC coaches’ poll.

The Golden Bears (1-1) have split games with Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference foes heading into action against Goldey-Beacom tomorrow night. They lost their season-opener at highly-touted Holy Family, 83-61 but bounced back to blow out the Lightning’s crosstown rival Wilmington, 93-55 at home this past Sat.

Kutztown is led by its 5-foot-11 senior forward Melissa McQuade, a two-time All-PSAC East selection and a pre-season All-PSAC selection coming into this season. McQuade leads the team in scoring (15.0) and rebounding (8.0) averages through two games this season.

Meanwhile, the Lightning have four scorers averaging double-figures in redshirt-junior guard Jacinda Jones (13.0 ppg), sophomore forward Irene Hudson (13.0 ppg), senior guard Janae Weldon (11.5 ppg) and Akilah Sewell (10.0 ppg).

Sewell, who posted career-highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds in the season opener against St. Thomas Aquinas, was saddled with foul trouble and contributed just four points and two rebounds in a mere eight minutes of play in the Lightning’s loss at Lock Haven Sunday.

Jones and Hudson, though they lead the team in scoring, are 8-for-28 (.286) and 10-for-28 (.357), respectively, from the field this season. Also, sophomore forward Devonne Richardson has been outstanding on the glass, averaging 12.5 rebounds per night, but has provided little scoring through two games this season. She averaged 10.9 ppg last year but so far this season she is averaging only 7.0 points per-contest.