Women's wrap: Scranton survives, Maryville stumbles

More news about: Maryville (Tenn.) | Scranton
Feb 03, 2016
Scranton shot 51 percent from the floor and outrebounded Moravian 36-30 in surviving on the road.
 Moravian athletics photo by Greg Cahill

No. 6 Scranton needed overtime to win at Moravian, while No. 22 Maryville (Tenn.) fell victim to the buzzsaw that is Piedmont in Wednesday's women's basketball action.

Moravian hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left to force overtime, but Scranton went on to prevail in the extra session and remain undefeated. Alexix Roman led the way in the scoring column once again with a game-high 24 points. Moravian fell to 15-5, 8-3 in the Landmark Conference. Moravian made it interesting late, cutting the Lady Royal lead down to three points on two separate occasions. But Noelle Alicea extinguished the threat by nailing four free throws in a row to secure the victory.

Piedmont won its 12th consecutive game and improved to 11-0 in the USA South, defeating Maryville and ending the Scots' seven-game winning streak by a 61-54 score. The Lions (16-4, 11-0) won with balanced scoring, as Mary Kate Rushton scored a team-high 12 points, with Le'Shaunda Jones and Brianna Barrett adding 10 apiece.

Lauren Anklam scored a career-high 28 points to lead No. 16 UW-Stevens Point to its sixth win over a ranked opponent this season by virtue of a 72-64 win over No. 15 UW-Whitewater. Anklam shot 8-for-14 from the field, including 3-for-6 from behind the arc, and 9-for-11 from the line. No. 10 UW-Oshkosh remains atop the WIAC standings, rolling out to a 22-4 lead en route to defeating UW-Platteville 76-45.

Devon Byrd blocked a 3-point attempt from Mary McDonagh with less than three seconds remaining to help the No. 24 Captains survive a scare at Salisbury (10-10, 6-7 CAC) to secure Christopher Newport's 13th straight victory. CNU led by as many as 11 points before a fourth-quarter comeback by the home team threatened to put the first blemish on CNU's 2016, but Byrd's defensive stand sealed the win for the Captains (18-2, 11-2). In the win, sophomore Sam Porter fell just two steals shy of a triple double, finishing with a game-high 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals. 

WPI set a school record with its 17th consecutive win, holding off Smith 59-56. The Pioneers (7-13, 4-8 NEWMAC) entered the fourth quarter down by 14 but outscored WPI (19-1, 11-0) 19-8 in the final period before a 3-point attempt at the buzzer missed. Also in the NEWMAC, Kristen Ferola scored a career-high 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds to help visiting Babson defeat Wheaton (Mass.) 77-68 to keep the Beavers (15-5, 11-1) atop the conference. 

Rowan maintained its two-game lead at the top of the NJAC. The Profs improved to 19-2, 13-1 in the conference with an 87-66 win vs. archrival TCNJ.  Anyssa Sanchez was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field  en route to 19 points, while Melissa Lake added 16 in the win. Katie Sire scored 18 points, including four during a game-ending 8-1 run, as Montclair State pushed past William Paterson 64-59 to remain tied for second in the NJAC with Stockton.

Rosemont got 17 points from Ayanna Thompson and 20 rebounds from Nadirah Anderson and won its eighth consecutive game, defeating Summit 75-44. Rosemont improved to 11-9, 7-4 in the CSAC. Bridgewater (Va.) defeated its archrival for the first time in 11 games as the Eagles defeated Eastern Mennonite 70-66. The Eagles used a dominating stretch in the third period to take the lead, and then held off a persistent push in the fourth quarter. Krista Knapke and Eleni Shea each hit the 1,000-point plateau in the same game for St. Mary's (Ind.), but it was not enough as Trine defeated the Belles 68-51.