WASHINGTON, D.C. – The University of Scranton women's basketball team held a lead midway through the second half in Saturday's Landmark Conference championship. But the Lady Royals couldn't hold off No. 10 Catholic as the Cardinals claimed the title with a 72-52 victory in the DuFour Center.

Catholic (26-1) won its second straight Landmark title by finishing the game on a 30-6 run over the final 9:55 minutes. The Lady Royals (19-8) held a four-point lead at halftime, 35-31, and still led by four before the Cardinals took control and pulled away.

The victory gives Catholic an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which begins Friday, March 1. The Lady Royals will now wait to see if they will receive an at-large bid to the tournament when the field is announced on Monday at 2:30 p.m.

Sophomore guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) led Scranton with 15 points on five 3-pointers. Senior forward Erin Boggan (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) added 14 points, all in the first half, and seven rebounds.

The Lady Royals shot 48.1 percent (13-for-27) while taking that four-point halftime lead, including 6-for-12 from 3-point range. But they connected on just five of 35 attempts (14.3 percent) in the second half, including 3-for-14 from 3-point range. Scranton made seven of 12 free throw attempts and committed 19 turnovers for the game.

Sophomore forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) added seven points and four rebounds, and sophomore guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) had seven assists in the loss.

Catholic was led by junior guard Emily Grabiak (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial), who scored a game-high 22 points and had seven assists. Senior guard Jill Woerner (Providence, R.I./St. Mary's Bayview) added 17 points and nine rebounds, and senior forward Katarina Owunna (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Alvernia) added 10 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Senior forward Kelli Josephsen (West Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) scored the first eight points of the game-changing run in the second half and finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Cardinals shot 37.5 percent (21-for-56) from the field, including 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) from 3-point range. They connected on 24 of 39 free throws and committed just nine turnovers. The victory over Scranton was the third of the season for the Cardinals.

Scranton will find out if it will make its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2010 when the field is announced on Monday at 2:30 p.m.

--LADY ROYALS--