The Lightning (0-2) outscored the Eagles 31-28 in the second half and twice held a two-point advantage in the final 10 minutes of play. GBC had a chance to win the game when, trailing by one with 12 seconds left to play, Lock Haven’s Sharay Hall missed both her free-throws and redshirt-junior guard Jacinda Jones grabbed the defensive board.
Sophomore forward Devonne Richardson, who hit two game-winning shots for the Lightning last year, started a drive to the basket from the three-point line but decided to put up an off-balanced running jump shot that fell off the mark, and LHU’s Mahogany Spence came up with the rebound. Peaches Nesmith then went to the line and iced the game with two free-throws, and the host Eagles escaped with a three-point win to improve to 2-0.
GBC, who has now lost both of its games this year by three points, left eight points up on the scoreboard as the Lightning made only 9-of-17 from the free-throw line. As a team this season, GBC is only shooting 48.9 percent from the stripe.
Usually a very good rebounding team, the Lightning sorely missed star forward Akilah Sewell today as the 6-1 forward who carried the Lightning with 16 points and 12 rebounds in the season opener was saddled with foul trouble all day and played just eight minutes. Consequently, the Lightning were outdone on the glass today, 53-40 and allowed the Eagles to pull down 21 offensive boards.
Richardson collected her second double-figure rebounding day in as many games this season as she pulled down 10 boards while Jones, senior guard Janae Weldon and sophomore forward Irene Hudson did most of the heavy lifting offensively.
Jones, the team’s leading scorer last year who continues to struggle from the field (5-for-14, 5-for-12 from three-point range), led the Lightning with 16 points while grabbing seven rebounds, blocking three shots and coming up with two steals.
Weldon had a very good shooting day as she dropped in 13 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field (3-for-5 from long-range) and 4-for-6 at the line. She also dished out a game-high five assists as she surpassed Erin Calloway (’04) for fourth on the school’s all-time career assists list with 212.
Hudson contributed 11 points off the bench as the third Lightning scorer in double-figures.
Lock Haven’s Kristen Kudrick led all scorers with 20 points as she dominated inside and outside for the Eagles. The team’s leading scorer with 21 points in LHU’s season-opening win over Post, Kudrick was 8-for-12 from the field (2-for-2 from three-point distance) and converted 2-for-3 at the line. She did all this in 26 minutes of work as she was plagued by foul trouble for a good portion of the second half and ultimately fouled out of the game in the final minutes.
Nesmith was also dominant with a double-double from her guard position. She scored 19 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds while also dishing out four assists and grabbing two steals.
Both teams struggled shooting from the floor with Goldey-Beacom holding a slight 34.4 percent to 30.2 percent edge. The Lightning held a significant three-point shooting advantage as they made 8-of-18 from long-distance (44.4 percent) to Lock Haven’s 7-of-21 (33.3 percent).
Still, free-throw shooting came back to haunt the Lightning as the Eagles converted 17-of-23 (73.9 percent) and GBC made just a little more than half of its attempts.
Lock Haven, a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, improved to 4-1 in the all-time series and have now won the last two meetings.
The Lightning will try to earn their first win of the season on the road Tues. when they take on another PSAC school in Kutztown University. Tip-off at Keystone Hall is at 6 p.m.
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