SCRANTON, Pa.—The University of Scranton held off a late rally to defeat backyard neighbor Marywood University, 65-54, Saturday afternoon at Insalaco Arena.

Senior guard Megan Kopecki (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half as the Lady Royals won their fifth straight game to improve to 6-2.  Scranton, which had an 18-point advantage with 9:19 remaining cut down to seven with 2:12 left, also received 10 points apiece from senior guard Jennifer King (Taylor, Pa./Riverside) and junior forward Sarah Gage (Ledgewood, N.J./Roxbury).

Junior guard Mariah Schaeffer (Bainbridge, N.Y./Bainbridge-Guilford) scored 14 of her team-high 16 points in the second half and junior guard Marielle Thorsen (Belvidere, N.J./Belvidere) finished with 13 points, four assists and four steals for Marywood, now 6-4.

The Lady Royals took the lead for good early in the first half on a lay-up by senior forward Courtney Roselle (Cedar Grove, N.J./Mount Saint Dominic Academy), who finished with four points and a game-high eight rebounds.  King scored nine of her 10 points in the opening 20 minutes of play as Kopecki and Gage added six apiece as Scranton settled for a 27-20 lead by intermission.

Behind lay-ups by Roselle, Gage and Kopecki, the Lady Royals opened up a 13-point advantage in the first two minutes of the second half to take their first significant lead.  Scranton then got a big lift from it bench during a 12-2 run over a six-minute span to take its largest lead of the game, 49-31.

Sophomore forward Tayler Pallotta (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore), who finished with seven points, three rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes of action, converted a traditional 3-point play and added a lay-up down low and sophomore guard Christina Hiltunen (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) drained a 3-pointer during the spurt.

Behind a pair of 3-pointers by Thorsen and one by Schaeffer, the Pacers answered with a 16-5 run to cut the lead to 54-47 with 3:42 left.  Marywood still only trailed by seven, 56-49, after two free throws by Schaeffer with 2:12 remaining before Kopecki converted a traditional 3-point play and senior guard Colleen McLane (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) canned two free throws after Palletta came up with a steal to give the Lady Royals' a comfortable 12-point lead with 1:34 left.

The Lady Royals' inside game up big in the second half, as Scranton scored 20 of its 30 points in the paint in the final 20 minutes of play.  The Lady Royals also connected on 13 of 14 free throw attempts in the second half to finish 18 of 22 (81.8 percent) for the game, which helped offset a 38.2 shooting effort from the field, including just 29.4 percent from the 3-point arc.

Scranton will play its final game before the holiday break this Tuesday, December 21, against fourth-ranked Kean University (8-1) at Harwood Arena in Union, New Jersey, beginning at 7:00 p.m.  The game can be heard live on WUSR, 99.5 FM, and over the Internet at www.wusrfm.com, with Dean Corwin calling all the action.

News & Notes:  Scranton is now 32-0 against Marywood…today's game was the first meeting between the two schools since the Lady Royals defeated the Pacers, 84-38, on February 17, 2005, at the Long Center…Kopecki moved ahead of Shelley Ritz-Buntz (1,385 points, 1983-1987) and Fran Harkins (1,401 points, 1978-1981, 1982-1983) into sixth place on the Lady Royals' all-time scoring list with 1,404 points…Scranton also received five points, two steals and a rebound in nine minutes of action off the bench from first-year player Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./Saint Rose)…Former Abington Heights product and Mt. St. Mary (Md.) transfer Jamie Halloran played eight minutes for the Pacers and contributed six points, four rebounds and two blocks.

Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 65, MARYWOOD 54

SCRANTON (6-2)
Megan Kopecki 7-17 7-7 21; Sarah Gage 3-6 4-4 10; Jennifer King 3-7 1-2 10; Tayler Pallotta 2-5 3-3 7; Alison Sweeney 2-3 0-0 5; Courtney Roselle 2-7 0-2 4; Christina Hiltunen 1-1 0-0 3; Colleen McLane 0-5 3-4 3; Shernai Bentley 1-2 0-0 2; KC Hawkes 0-0 0-0 0; Katie Cunningham 0-1 0-0 0; Katherine Torto 0-1 0-0 0.  Totals 21-55 18-22 65.

MARYWOOD (6-4)
Schaeffer, Mariah 6-13 2-4 16; Thorsen, Marielle 5-15 0-0 13; Flanagan, Jillian 3-6 3-3 9; Halloran, Jamie 2-3 2-4 6; Rogan, Lauren 2-6 0-0 5; Mang, Brittany 1-3 2-4 4; Leitzel, Carly 0-1 1-2 1; Thomopoulos, Krissi 0-0 0-0 0; Mayo, Alysa 0-0 0-0 0; Nastelli, Megan 0-1 0-0 0; Lippincott, Amanda 0-1 0-0 0; Bruet, Allison 0-4 0-0 0; Sobrinski, Marilee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 10-17 54.

The University of Scranton....   27   38  -   65
Marywood University...........   20   34  -   54

3-point goals--The University of Scranton 5-17 (Jennifer King 3-7; Alison Sweeney 1-2; Christina Hiltunen 1-1; Colleen McLane 0-3; Katie Cunningham 0-1; Katherine Torto 0-1; Megan Kopecki 0-2), Marywood University 6-16 (Thorsen, Marielle 3-7; Schaeffer, Mariah 2-4; Rogan, Lauren 1-3; Nastelli, Megan 0-1; Bruet, Allison 0-1). Fouled out--The University of Scranton-None, Marywood University-None. Rebounds--The University of Scranton 37 (Courtney Roselle 8), Marywood University 38 (Schaeffer, Mariah 7; Flanagan, Jillian 7). Assists--The University of Scranton 12 (Megan Kopecki 4), Marywood University 9 (Thorsen, Marielle 4). Total fouls--The University of Scranton 16, Marywood University 15. Technical fouls--The University of Scranton-None, Marywood University-None. A-225