LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Georgian Court University scored 48 second-half points after trailing by nine points at halftime to defeat the Caldwell College women's basketball team, 71-68 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game Tuesday night at Georgian Court. The loss drops the Cougars to 1-3 overall and in the conference, while the Lions win their first game in five tries this season to improve to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the CACC.
The Cougars opened the game with a 15-4 run led by sophomore forward Dana Leary's (Bridgewater, NJ/Immaculata) six points. Six points in one minute, 15 seconds from junior forward Amy Gaudious (Long Branch, NJ/Long Branch) gave Caldwell its biggest lead of the half at 21-8. Georgian Court battled back to cut the lead to 25-18 with 4:25 before halftime, but a three-pointer by junior guard Shannon Coyle (Matawan, NJ/St. John Vianney) helped the Cougars eventually take a 32-23 lead into the break.
Another three-pointer by Coyle as well as four points from Leary (pictured) helped Caldwell open the second half with an 11-5 run to increase its lead to 43-28 with 16:15 remaining. At that point Georgian Court took control of the game, using six three-pointers, including four from Annie Alosa, to go on a 26-5 run and take a 54-48 lead at the 8:43 mark of the second half. The Cougars responded with a 9-4 spurt and had a chance to tie the game with 3:01 on the clock. But after making her first free throw to cut the Lions' lead to 58-57, Leary missed the second. Lay-ups by Kamilah Bergman and Ashley Lobbato sandwiched around a Cougar turnover put the Lions up by five, 62-57 with 2:18 to go. Caldwell came with three points twice but could get no closer as the Lions wrapped up their first victory of the season.
Leary led the Cougars with 15 points and added six rebounds. Sophomore Sophomore forward Melissa Freeman (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) grabbed a team-high eight boards, while Coyle dished out a career-best nine assists to go with eight points in the loss. Georgian Court's Alosa led all scorers with 18 points while making 4-of-7 from three-point range.
Next up for the Cougars is a home game with defending CACC champion Holy Family University on Thursday, Dec. 8. Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the George R. Newman Center.
