The Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team continued their winning ways Tuesday afternoon, jumping out to an early lead and pulled away in the second half to defeat Georgian Court University 53-42 at the GCU Wellness Center in Lakewood, New Jersey.

The win was the Griffins fifth straight as they improved to 11-3 overall and 5-0 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games.  The Lions fall to 5-9 overall and 2-5 in league play.

Leading the way for the Griffins were Lindsey Lane (Havertown, Pa.) and Bri Hewlett (North Wales, Pa.).  Lane and Hewlett scored 13 points apiece and combined for 14 rebounds (Hewlett 8, Lane 6).  Lauren Crim (Warrington, Pa.) added 11 points (nine in the second half) to join Hewlett and Lane in double figures.  Emily Chmiel (Doylestown, Pa.) grabbed seven rebounds and had three blocks and a steal while Kaitlyn Carter (Philadelphia, Pa.) had two steals and two blocks.  Abbey Spratt (Doylestown, Pa.) grabbed six rebounds to go along with two assists and two blocks. Cassie Sebold (Willow Grove, Pa.) came off the bench to score seven points and had a team-high three assists.

Defensively the Griffins held the Lions to just 29.5% shooting from the field and kept Georgian Court away from the free throw line completely (0-0) and for the fourth time this season held an opponent to 45 points or less.  Carter was given the task of guarding the conference's leading scorer Anyssa Fields who entered the game averaging 21.3 points per game and held the GCU sophomore scoreless when the two were on the court at the same time.  (Fields finished with the game with three points)

Lane scored the game's first four points as the Griffins jumped out to an 11-0 lead, holding the Lions to an 0-14 effort from the field over the first 9:21 of the period before the Lions finally got on the board on a jumper from Nerea Brajic (9 points).  Chmiel's basket gave the griffins a 13-2 lead heading into the second quarter.

The second quarter belonged to the Lions who used an 18-5 run to pull even at 20-20 with 3:34 left in the period.   Hewlett broke the tie nearly two minutes later with a pair of free throws and added a basket at the 1:06 mark to round out the scoring in the half as the Griffins went into the locker room at the break, up 24-20.

Crim scored the Griffins first six points of the third quarter and started a 9-2 run as the Griffins again pushed the lead to double figures 37-27.  Carter, Lane and Hewlett followed with baskets and Lane made the first of two at the free throw line to complete the run.  Two free throws from Chmiel in the final minute pushed the lead to 1243-31 heading into the final quarter.

The Griffins maintained their double digit advantage for most of the fourth quarter as their lead oscillated between 10-12 points until the Lions cut the margin to eight 47-39 on a jumper by Andjela Kremenovic.   Hewlett countered with a three-pointer to push the lead back to 11 50-39.  Crim made three free throws in the final minute to seal the 11-point win.

The Griffins did not have a great shooting game, making 35.8%  (19-53) of their shots from the field.  Chestnut Hill was 13-16 from the free throw line (81.3%) while keeping GCU off the charity stripe.  The griffins outrebounded the Lions 44-36 while also holding a 13-3 advantage in the second chance points category.

The Chestnut hill women's Basketball Team returns to action on Thursday, January 13, 2022 when they play the first of three straight games against regionally ranked opponents, hosting Jefferson University at Sorgenti Arena.  Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.