SCRANTON, Pa.—Senior guard Colleen McLane (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) stole teammate Megan Kopecki's (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) thunder in The University of Scranton's 64-56 victory over Moravian College in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at the Long Center.

McLane buried back-to-back 3-pointers during a 22-second span late in the second half to help open up a 8-point lead as the Lady Royals improved to 18-6 overall and 12-2 in the Landmark Conference. 

Kopecki, who received the 17th annual Dr. Harold Davis Award as Scranton's most valuable senior during a pregame ceremony, finished with 16 points, senior guard Jennifer King (Taylor, Pa./Riverside) had 13 and sophomore forward Tayler Pallotta (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore) contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds, the second 'double-double' of her career.

Senior guard/forward Amy Heffner (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) led the Lady Greyhounds, now 14-11 overall and 9-5 in the conference, with 20 points and nine rebounds and senior guard/forward Emily Smith (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg South) finished with 17 points.

The game turned into a knock-down, drag-out affair with neither team able to establish any type of consistency.  The two teams shot a combined 14-for-63 (22.2 percent) from the field in the first half, and it didn't get much too much better after that.

Nevertheless, the Lady Royals fought back from a four-point halftime deficit and took the lead for good on a lay-up by Pallotta with 11:38 remaining. 

It remained a nip-and-tuck affair until McLane buried a 3-pointer with 4:52 left to give Scranton a 47-40 lead and another one at the 4:30 mark to make it an 8-point game. Kopecki then followed with lay-up and senior forward Courtney Roselle (Cedar Grove, N.J./Mount Saint Dominic) knocked down two free throws with 2:26 left to give Scranton a 12-point cushion.

Moravian, however, wasn't quite done The Lady Greyhounds cut the margin to five twice and made it a two-possession game on a 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining by Heffner, 62-56.  Kopecki then closed out the scoring with two free throws seven seconds later.

McLane's two 3-pointers were her only baskets of the game. She also finished with four steals in 24 minutes of action.  Sophomore forward Shernai Bentley (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) came off the bench and tied her career-high with 11 rebounds as Scranton held a 47-43 advantage on the boards.

Junior forward Alexandra Blair (Hellertown, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic), who entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in blocked shots, finished with six blocks, eight rebounds, and three assists for Moravian, which held a 26-18 advantage in points in the paint.

The game turned out to be a dress rehearsal for the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament.  Now that Juniata College has secured the top seed with a 76-65 victory over Susquehanna University today, the Lady Royals and the number two seed will once again host third-seeded Moravian in semifinal action this Wednesday, February 23, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Long Center.  Catholic University will take on Juniata in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, in the other game.  The winners will advance to next Saturday championship game at the site of the highest seed remaining in the field.

News & Notes:  The Lady Royals hold a 15-8 lead since the all-time series with Moravian College began on February 28, 1987…Scranton was 23 of 29 from the free throw line (79.3 percent), including 18 of 23 in the second half (78.3 percent)…For the game, Moravian shot only 28.3 percent from the field, while the Lady Royals were only slightly better at 29.5 percent…Scranton's bench out-scored the Lady Greyhound reserves, 16-6.

Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 64, MORAVIAN 56

MORAVIAN (14-11/9-5 Landmark)
Amy Heffner 5-11 8-10 20; Emily Smith 6-17 4-4 17; Katie O'Rourke 2-9 5-7 9; Alexandra Blair 2-8 0-0 4; Amanda Kreuder 1-4 1-1 3; Caitlin Hrebik 1-2 1-1 3; Ericka Blair 0-3 0-0 0; Laura Jordan 0-1 0-0 0; Alyssa Hann 0-1 0-0 0; Hilary Murray 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 17-60 19-23 56.

SCRANTON (18-6/12-2 Landmark)
Megan Kopecki 5-11 6-6 16; Jennifer King 4-12 2-2 13; Tayler Pallotta 4-11 2-2 10; Alison Sweeney 0-4 6-8 6; Colleen McLane 2-5 0-2 6; Shernai Bentley 1-4 2-2 4; Courtney Roselle 0-1 3-5 3; Katie Cunningham 1-8 0-0 2; Christina Hiltunen 0-1 2-2 2; Sarah Gage 1-1 0-0 2; Sidney Jaques 0-1 0-0 0; Katherine Torto 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-61 23-29 64.

Moravian......................   24   32  -   56
The University of Scranton....   20   44  -   64

3-point goals--Moravian 3-12 (Amy Heffner 2-6; Emily Smith 1-1; Caitlin Hrebik 0-1; Ericka Blair 0-1; Alyssa Hann 0-1; Hilary Murray 0-2), The University of Scranton 5-19 (Jennifer King 3-8; Colleen McLane 2-4; Alison Sweeney 0-3; Katie Cunningham 0-2; Christina Hiltunen 0-1; Katherine Torto 0-1). Fouled out--Moravian-None, The University of Scranton-Courtney Roselle. Rebounds--Moravian 43 (Amy Heffner 9), The University of Scranton 47 (Shernai Bentley 11). Assists--Moravian 11 (Alexandra Blair 3), The University of Scranton 12 (Jennifer King 4; Megan Kopecki 4). Total fouls--Moravian 22, The University of Scranton 21. Technical fouls--Moravian-None, The University of Scranton-None. A-450