SCRANTON, Pa. - A fourth quarter rally by the seventh-ranked University of Scranton women's basketball team came up just short on Saturday against Elizabethtown, as the visiting Blue Jays pulled out a 61-55 victory over the Lady Royals in Landmark Conference action inside the John Long Center.
With the defeat, Scranton fell to 17-2 overall and 6-2 in the Landmark Conference, while Elizabethtown improved to 14-4 overall and an even 4-4 in the Landmark with the victory.
To open play, Scranton was able to jump out to an early 8-5 lead on Elizabethtown, but the visiting Blue Jays ended the quarter strong, as a 10-0 run over the final three and a half minutes of action gave E-Town a 15-8 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.
Scranton continued to struggle in the second quarter, as Elizabethtown quickly stretched the lead out to 11 points (23-12) with seven minutes left in the first half.
After Scranton cut the lead to five (26-21) with four minutes left, the Blue Jays once again ended a quarter on a flurry, as a 10-1 run over the final four minutes of action gave E-Town a 14-point lead at the break (36-22).
After an uneventful third quarter that saw Elizabethtown keep a double-digit lead at 48-37 entering the fourth, the Lady Royals finally made a surge at the Blue Jays late in the fourth quarter.
Down by 10 (52-42) with 5:58 left, the Scranton offense went on a tear, as an 8-0 run over a minute and a half cut the Elizabethtown lead all the way down to two points (52-50) with 4:10 left.
After two made free throws by E-Town, freshman guard Mackenzie Yori (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) nailed a jumper to cut the Blue Jay lead back down to two points at 54-52 with 3:40 left.
Unfortunately, this proved to be the closest Scranton came to the lead the rest of regulation, as a 7-0 Elizabethtown run over the next two minutes gave the Blue Jays an insurmountable 59-52 lead with 1:50 left.
The closest Scranton came to the lead the rest of the game was four points (59-55) with 23 seconds left, as Elizabethtown sealed the victory with free throws down the stretch to take the game by six.
Overall, senior forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) led the Lady Royals in the defeat, scoring 17 points. Payonk also pulled down nine rebounds and record six assists in the loss, as well.
Elsewhere, fellow senior forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) had 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while senior Denise Rizzo (Paramus, N.J./Holy Angels) chipped in with 10 points off the bench.
Elizabethtown, who notched their first victory over the Lady Royals since 1991, was led in the win by Emily Martin, who finished with a game-high 22 points.
The University of Scranton women's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, hosting Moravian in another Landmark Conference match-up inside the John Long Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--