The Lightning, who have now won two straight, improved to 2-4 on the season overall and 1-0 in CACC play. Phila U. fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1 to start conference play. GBC head coach Jen Carleton has guided the Lightning to three straight wins at the Gallagher Center dating back to last season.
Senior guard Janae Weldon led four Lightning scorers in double-figures as she scored a season-high 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field (including 3-for-4 from three-point range) and 4-for-7 shooting at the free-throw line.
Weldon’s backcourt mate, redshirt-junior Jacinda Jones, scored 14 points on the night, eight of which, came consecutively during a 16-5 Lightning run to begin the game.
GBC, which held a 40-29 rebounding advantage for the night and outscored the Rams 27-20 in the paint, received a double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds) and six assists from sophomore forward Devonne Richardson and 15 points and five rebounds from sophomore forward Irene Hudson. Senior forward Arielle Alford pitched in with six points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
After a Phila U. layup by Christine Wooding (14 points, six rebounds), the Lightning went on a 16-3 run capped by eight consecutive points by Jones and took a 16-5 lead at the 15:48 mark.
Phila U. head coach Tom Shirley managed to calm his team down during a timeout as the Rams settled into the game with an 18-4 charge and took a 23-20 lead after a Stephanie Agger three-pointer at the 9:19 mark.
After Hudson converted 3-of-4 free-throws in two trips to the line to tie the score, the Rams took a six-point advantage on two consecutive three-pointers by Taylor Magnus and Taylor Peltzer. The three-ball by Peltzer would be the last made three-point attempt of the night by the Rams.
Trailing by five with 4:25 left in the first half, the Lightning closed out the frame on an 11-2 run capped by a put-back layup by Hudson off of her own offensive rebound. GBC led 37-33 at the half.
Again the Lightning came rushing out of the gate in the second half as they opened up a 13-point lead (46-33) with a 9-0 run in the first four minutes of the closing frame. Richardson scored the first four points of the half and assisted on a three-pointer by Weldon.
The Rams would not go away quietly though as interior players Wooding and Kristen Blye (game-high 24 points, six rebounds) began to heat up in the second half. Wooding scored eight of her 14 and Blye scored 17 of her 24 in the closing frame.
A Blye layup at the 11:26 mark brought the Rams within four (49-45), but the Lightning countered with five straight points, including a clutch three-pointer with the shot-clock running down by freshman Melanie Johnson.
GBC would take back a double-digit lead (58-47) after a jumper by Hudson at the 8:30 mark, but still the Lightning could not quite put away their division foe. Leading 64-53 with the game approaching the five-minute mark, the Lightning allowed their 11 point lead to whittle down to four after a 9-2 Ram surge led again by Wooding and Blye.
The Lightning defense stiffened in the final two minutes as they forced three misses by the Rams in their final three shots of the night. Philadelphia was 0-for-6 from three-point range in the second half.
Meanwhile, Jones connected on a jumper at 1:57 to up the lead to six and the Lightning made three of four from the stripe down the stretch to put the game away for the nine-point victory, 72-61.
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