SCRANTON, Pa. - Sophomore guard Bridgette Mann (Canadensis, Pa./Wallenpaupack) nailed five three's on her way to scoring a game-high 25 points, as the University of Scranton women's basketball team used a second half rally to knock off visiting Susquehanna, 66-53, on Wednesday night at the John Long Center in Landmark Conference action.
The Lady Royals, ranked third in both the WBCA Coaches' and D3Hoops.com Top 25 polls, moved to 14-0 overall on the year with the win, 3-0 in the Landmark Conference.
Scranton also extended their regular season winning streak to 48 games, 27 of those wins coming in Landmark play. The Lady Royals have also won 24 straight inside the Long Center, as well.
Susquehanna fell to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the Landmark with the defeat.
In the first quarter, Susquehanna was able to open an early lead (8-5), but Scranton quickly took their first lead of the night (14-13) with two minutes left in the frame. The Lady Royals continued to hold the edge through the end of the period, and entered the second quarter up 17-15 on the Riverhawks.
To start the second quarter, Scranton extended their lead out to seven points (24-17), but the tide turned quickly on the Lady Royals in the middle portion of the period. There, Susquehanna charged on a 17-1 run, opening up their biggest lead of the contest at 34-25 with 1:53 left in the first half.
But, the Lady Royals bounced back before halftime, as junior Katie Broderick (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) and Mann nailed three's to end the period, cutting Susquehanna's lead down to 34-31 entering intermission.
In the third quarter, the Lady Royals continued to ride the wave of momentum they jump started at the end of the first half, as they outscored Susquehanna 18-7 in the period to take a 49-41 lead into the final frame.
The closest Susquehanna came to the Scranton lead the rest of the game was four points (51-47 with 7:29 left), as a 6-0 run in the middle of the period put the Lady Royals up for good at 57-47 with 4:15 left. From there, Scranton coasted, as they outscored Susquehanna 35-19 in the second half to take the game by 13 points.
Overall, Mann matched her career-high set earlier in the year at Neumann (Nov. 30) with her 25 point evening. She shot 8-of-14 from the floor in the win, going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, while nailing all four free throws she attempted.
Elsewhere, senior forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) posted her third straight double-double, ending the game with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Roman has now scored in double-figures in 13 of 14 games on the year for Scranton, hitting the 20-point mark four times.
Broderick finished with seven points in the win and dished out a career-high six assists in the win, while junior guard Katie O'Reilly (Montville, N.J,/Montville) and senior forward Denise Rizzo (Paramus, N.J./Holy Angels) scored five points, apiece (Rizzo scored all of her points in the fourth quarter). Senior Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) did not score in the game, but was still a force elsewhere, finishing with nine rebounds and four assists in the victory.
The University of Scranton women's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Goucher for another Landmark Conference match-up. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--