SCRANTON, Pa. - Senior forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for a double-double, but it wasn't enough, as visiting Moravian used hot shooting from the floor in the second half to get past the host Lady Royals, 87-83, in Landmark Conference action inside the John Long Center on Wednesday night.
Scranton, ranked 14th in the latest D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll, fell to 17-3 overall with the defeat and 6-3 in the Landmark Conference. Moravian improved to 15-5 overall and 7-2 in the Landmark with the victory.
To start play, the Lady Royals were able to open up a quick 10-6 lead on the Greyhounds in the first six minutes of action. But, Moravian came back, eventually taking the lead for the first time on the night at 12-11 after a 6-1 run.
The rest of the opening quarter remained close between the teams and after 10 minutes of play, and was tied on two separate occasions, including at the end of the period at 19-all.
The game continued to remain tight between the teams in the second quarter, but a late run by the Greyhounds (8-0) swung the lead back in their direction entering halftime, as Moravian led it, 39-36, over Scranton at intermission.
To start the third quarter, Scranton came out hot, as a 13-4 run over the first four and a half minutes of action gave them a 49-43 lead with 5:25 left in the period.
The period, however, came to a head with 2:46 left and the Lady Royals leading 54-49. There, Moravian went on a big rally to end the quarter, as a 14-6 run in just over two minutes gave the Greyhounds a 63-60 lead at the end of three.
In the fourth, Scranton quickly tied the game up at 65-all in the first minute, then again at 67-all with under eight minutes left. After Roman made a free throw to give Scranton the lead back at 68-67, Moravian went on a quick 8-2 run to grab the lead back at 74-68 with 6:38 left in regulation.
With Moravian up 76-70 with 5:42 left, the Lady Royals went on a scoring run of their own, as a 6-0 spurt tied the game up for the eighth time on the evening at 76-all with 4:33 left.
Unfortunately for Scranton, this proved to be the final time the rest of the contest that it was tied, as Moravian kept the Lady Royals off the scoreboard for almost four minutes, opening up an 82-76 lead in the process.
Scranton did cut the deficit to three points late (83-80 with 13 seconds left), but Moravian sealed the game with four made free throws down the stretch to win it.
Overall, Roman delivered a big night for Scranton in the loss, scoring over 20 points for the seventh time on the season in her 25-point outing. She also notched her seventh double-double of the year in the defeat with her 12-rebounds performance, as well.
Elsewhere, fellow senior forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) also posted a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Her 20-point effort came just short of a season-high of 21, as she also notched her fifth double-double of the year in the defeat.
Rounding out the double-digit scorers for Scranton were sophomore guard Bridgette Mann (Canadensis, Pa./Wallenpaupack), who finished with 13 points, while senior forward Denise Rizzo (Paramus, N.J./Holy Angels) scored 10 points off the bench.
The University of Scranton women's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Juniata for a Landmark Conference match-up. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--