Felician Athletics - 1/8/08 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Late GCU Defense Stops Women's Basketball, 64-59

RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Georgian Court University blocked a shot and made two steals in the final four seconds to seal its 64-59 women’s basketball victory over host Felician College on Tuesday night at Job Gymnasium.

Trailing by six with 34 seconds left in regulation, Felician (2-10, 0-4) made two free throws, forced a quick turnover, and scored again to pull within 61-59 at 0:14. With Felician forced to foul, GCU’s Stephanie Longdo (Barnegat, NJ) made 1 of 2 free throws. A Golden Falcons’ three-point field-goal attempt on the ensuing possession was blocked out of bounds by Dee Varley (Little Egg Harbor, NJ) with 3.9 seconds showing on the clock. Longdo then stole the in-bounds pass, was fouled, and made both free throws. Felician’s last-gasp in-bounds pass at 0:02.3 was also stolen by Longdo.

Longdo posted game highs of 18 points and six steals off the bench, and Patricia Foley (Hamilton, NJ) had 16 points for the winners. Dee Dee Smith (Monticello, NY) scored 17 points with eight rebounds and Janelle Biamonte (Secaucus, NJ) amassed 17 points and seven rebounds for Felician.

Felician was ahead by as many as 11 points in the first half and took a 32-27 edge into halftime. The Lions (5-7, 2-2) gained the lead for good on a Longdo jumper with 13:37 to play, with her team in the midst of an 8-1 run. In addition to the teams combining for 46 turnovers, the contest featured 57 personal fouls, five disqualifications, and 79 free-throw attempts, and lasted two hours, two minutes.

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