WASHINGTON, D.C.—The University of Scranton took advantage of turnover-prone Catholic University to pull away from a three-point halftime lead en route to a 76-60 victory in the first of a four-game Landmark Conference road trip Friday evening at the DuFour Center.
Senior guard Megan Kopecki (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) scored 17 points, including the 1500th of her career, and pulled down 10 rebounds, first-year guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./Saint Rose) contributed 10 points, and junior forward Sarah Gage (Ledgewood, N.J./Roxbury) and junior guard Sidney Jaques (Rosemont, N.J./Hunterdon Central) finished with nine points apiece as the Lady Royals won their second straight to improve to 11-5 overall and 5-1 in the conference.
Sophomore guard Jill Woerner (Providence, R.I./St. Mary's Bayview) paced the Cardinals, now 12-5 overall and 4-2 in the Landmark Conference, with 19 points and freshman guard Emily Grabiak (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.
After a slow start, the Lady Royals got a big lift from Jaques, who came off the bench and scored a season-high nine points by connecting on 3 of 6 shots from the field in 10 minutes of action in the first half. Kopecki also finished with nine first-half points as Scranton shot 50 percent from the field to squeeze out a 43-40 lead by intermission. Woerner was the Cardinals' best bet in the first half, connecting on 6 of 12 shots from the floor en route to 13 points.
Then the bottom fell out for Catholic early in the second half.
The Cardinals committed turnovers on their first five possessions, which the Lady Royal took advantage of to extend their lead to 12, 52-40, behind a 3-pointer by senior guard Jennifer King (Taylor, Pa./Riverside), a lay-up by Gage and back-to-back lay-ups by sophomore forward Shernai Bentley (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick, Valley) with 16:18 remaining. The Cardinals were only able to cut Scranton's double-digit lead twice the rest of the way.
The Lady Royals turned 25 turnovers by Catholic into 27 points and Scranton's bench out-scored the Cardinal reserves, 34-18.
Kopecki's 'double-double' was her first of the season and the second of her career. Her 17 points this evening gives her 1,505, making her one of only five players in Lady Royals' history to score at least 1500 career points.
The Lady Royals will take on Goucher College tomorrow evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Decker Sports & Recreation Center in Towson, Maryland.
News & Notes: Lady Royals held a 45-38 rebounding advantage…Sweeney also finished with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks…Scranton now holds a 16-2 lead since the all-time series with Catholic University began on February 1, 1986…Lady Royals are 7-0 against Catholic University since the two schools began members of the Landmark Conference during the 2007-2008 academic year.
Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 76, CATHOLIC 60
SCRANTON (11-5/5-1 Landmark)
Megan Kopecki 5-11 5-7 17; Alison Sweeney 4-10 2-4 10; Sarah Gage 4-8 1-2 9; Sidney Jaques 3-6 2-4 9; Katherine Torto 3-5 1-2 8; Jennifer King 2-5 2-3 7; Tayler Pallotta 3-6 0-0 6; Colleen McLane 2-3 0-0 5; Shernai Bentley 2-5 0-1 4; Katie Cunningham 0-1 1-3 1; Christina Hiltunen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 14-26 76.
CATHOLIC (12-5, 4-2 Landmark)
Jill Woerner 9-16 1-3 19; Emily Grabiak 3-5 4-4 10; Jenny McGann 2-7 2-2 6; Kerri Confrey 2-5 1-2 5; Mary McGann 2-7 0-0 5; Katarina Owunna 2-8 0-0 4; Mary Hagaman 0-1 3-4 3; Rachel Ferri 0-3 3-4 3; Holly Janicki 1-6 0-0 3; Liz Briones 1-2 0-0 2; Kristen Kitrick 0-0 0-0 0; Claire McEvily 0-0 0-0 0; Kelly Ryan 0-1 0-0 0; Jesse Ford 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 14-19 60.
The University of Scranton.... 43 33 - 76
Catholic...................... 40 20 - 60
3-point goals--The University of Scranton 6-15 (Megan Kopecki 2-2; Jennifer King 1-4; Colleen McLane 1-2; Katherine Torto 1-2; Sidney Jaques 1-2; Christina Hiltunen 0-1; Alison Sweeney 0-2), Catholic 2-16 (Mary McGann 1-2; Holly Janicki 1-5; Jenny McGann 0-1; Kerri Confrey 0-1; Mary Hagaman 0-1; Rachel Ferri 0-1; Liz Briones 0-1; Emily Grabiak 0-2; Jill Woerner 0-2). Fouled out--The University of Scranton-None, Catholic-None. Rebounds—The University of Scranton 45 (Megan Kopecki 10), Catholic 38 (Emily Grabiak 9). Assists--The University of Scranton 14 (Sarah Gage 4), Catholic 15 (Kerri Confrey 5). Total fouls--The University of Scranton 18, Catholic 23. Technical fouls--The University of Scranton-None, Catholic-None. A-287