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Waterbury, Conn. – The Post University Eagles rode the all-around play of freshman Liz Falcigno (Middletown, Conn.), jumped out to an early eight point lead and held on in the waning seconds to defeat the Goldey-Beacom Lightning, 82-78 at the Drubner Center on Saturday afternoon.

It was their second straight win overall and second straight win in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Eagles improved to 7-11 overall and 7-5 in the CACC. It was the first win for the Eagles against the Lightning since 2007.

Falcigno got in on the action early, hitting two straight three-pointers to begin the game, giving the Eagles a 6-0 lead. The Eagles would jump out to a 10-2 lead after two buckets by freshman Dericka Sims (Chesapeake, Va.). The Lightning would make a little 14-6 run of their own, capped by a three-pointer by Lillian Chukwueze to tie the game at 16 apiece.

The Eagles, however would not fall behind, and proceeded to go on a 14-4 run, thanks in large part to solid defense from Falcigno who managed four steals in the first half leading to assists on layups by senior Aubrey Latham (Mystic, Conn.) and sophomore Hailey Griffin (Plainfield, Conn.).

Post would go into the half with a 47-41 lead. Falcigno had an all-around impressive performance with 17 points – including four three-pointers - four steals, three assists and three rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action. The Eagles forced seven turnovers in the half.

The two teams played pretty evenly throughout the first five minutes of the second half. A lot of the thanks went to Falcigno and junior Jacquelynne Pugh (Grahamsville, N.Y.). Her two aggressive drives to the hoop for layups early on shutdown potential runs of the Lightning.

However, the Lightning would go on a tiny 6-0 run to tie the game at 55 after Briana Richmond-Peters made a layup.

After that, the Eagles would not give up the lead again, but it wasn't easy. Every time the Lightning looked to tie or take the lead, the Eagles would come up with big rebounds, buckets, and steals throughout.

After two Falcigno free-throws with 21 seconds left to give Post an 80-76 lead, the Lightning immediately got down the court and Chukwueze made a layup to make it a two-point game. After a Goldey-Beacom timeout, the Eagles had trouble inbounding and through lost the ball out of bounds.

With a chance for the Lightning to tie or win the game, senior Raven Wright-James (Middletown, Conn.) made one of the biggest plays of the season for the Eagles, stripping Taylor Leonard of the ball with 4.4 seconds left. Wright-James was fouled and hit the two free-throws to seal the 82-78 win.

Falcigno would finish with a career-high 24 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals. Wright-James finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Griffin finished with 13 points, Pugh, 12 and Latham, nine.

The Lightning fell to 9-11 overall and 6-7 in the CACC. Chukwueze had a double-double for the Lightning with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Chelsea Grover had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Goldey-Beacom.

Up next for the Eagles is a road game against Nyack at 6 p.m. on Feb. 5 in a CACC tilt.

@GoPostEagles.

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