Bridgette Mann (Canadensis, Pa./Wallenpaupack) scored a career-high 34 points and matched a career-best with eight rebounds to carry The University of Scranton to a 65-52 victory over visiting Drew University on Thursday night in the Long Center.
After having a 12-point halftime lead trimmed to one point at the end of the third quarter, the #13 Lady Royals (21-1, 10-1 Landmark) outscored the Rangers (12-10, 4-7 Landmark) 22-10 in the final 10 minutes of play to clinch a berth in the Landmark Conference playoffs with their 16th consecutive victory.
Scranton came out strong, scoring nine of the game's first 11 points and held a 19-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. Drew opened the second period with a layup to make it a three-point contest, but the Lady Royals outscored the Rangers 14-5 the rest over the final 8:09 of the frame to take a 33-21 advantage into the intermission.
Drew pulled to within four points at the 6:46 mark of the third quarter before Mann followed up a layup with a three-pointer to push Scranton's lead to 38-29. The Rangers closed the stanza with a 13-5 surge to make it a 43-42 ballgame heading into the final period of regulation.
The Lady Royals took control in the fourth quarter, netting the first six points and using a 16-4 run over the first 6:37 of the frame to hold a 59-46 cushion with just under three and a half minutes remaining and the hosts would maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Mann posted her career-high 34 points, which is tied for the seventh-best single-game performance in school history, on 12-21 shooting from the floor including a 5-11 effort from three-point range while going 5-6 from the free throw line.
Katie Feehery (Media, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) came off the bench to add six points in the victory while Makenzie Mason (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West), Sofia Recupero (Whitestone, N.Y./St. Francis Prep), and Emily Sheehan (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore) tallied five points apiece.
Feehery also dished out a career-high six assists while Mason led all players with a career-high three blocks for the Lady Royals, who shot 41.1 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range, and 78.6 percent from the charity stripe. The hosts also forced Drew into 14 turnovers while committing just nine giveaways as a team.m.
Erin Frederick netted a team-best 18 points for the Rangers while Michaela Keegan led all players with 10 rebounds on the evening. The visitors went 36.8 percent from the floor, 26.7 percent from long distance, and 54.5 percent from the line in the loss.
Scranton will continue its four-game homestand on Saturday against Catholic starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Long Center.