SCRANTON, Pa. - Junior forward Sofia Recupero (Whitestone, N.Y /Saint Francis Prep) scored a team-high 16 points for The University of Scranton women's basketball team, but it wasn't enough, as visiting Elizabethtown used hot shooting from the floor in the second half to knock off the Lady Royals, 64-56, on Saturday in Landmark Conference action at the John Long Center.
With the loss, Scranton (ranked third in the D3Hoops.com poll and fourth in the WBCA Top 25) dropped their first game of the 2018-19 season, going to 18-1 overall and 7-1 in the Landmark Conference. Elizabethtown, who earned a win in the Long Center for the second time in three seasons, moved to 12-6 overall and 5-3 in the Landmark with the upset victory.
From the get go in the contest on Saturday, things were close between the two squads, with Scranton holding a slim 13-11 lead on E-Town after the first 10 minutes of regulation.
In the second, E-Town opened a five-point lead (20-15) after opening the frame on a 9-2 run, and held a lead for the majority of the quarter. But, the Lady Royals ended the quarter strong, as freshman Hannah Kowalski (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) nailed a jumper late in the period to lift Scranton to a 27-26 lead entering halftime.
Out of intermission, it remained close, with E-Town going back up, 36-32, with 5:01 left. A Kowalski three cut the Blue Jays lead down to 36-35, but, Elizabethtown ended the quarter on a roll, as a 13-3 rally put the visitors up by 11 entering the fourth quarter at 49-38.
Down by 11 entering the final frame, E-Town eventually extended their lead out to 14 points (54-40) with 8:26 left, which turned out to be a deficit that was too much for Scranton to come back from. However, the Lady Royals made things interesting down the stretch, as they cut the E-Town lead down to five points (60-55) with 1:33 to go.
But, Scranton could not get closer than that to the lead the rest of the game, as E-Town went back up nine with under a minute left and never looked back in an eventual eight-point victory.
Overall, Recupero led the way for Scranton in a losing effort, finishing with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Recupero also had a block and a steal in the defeat, as well.
Elsewhere, Kowalski came off the bench and scored 13 points, while adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Elizabethtown was led in the victory by Mikayla Ruth, who finished with 18 points. The Blue Jays ultimately pulled away in the contest with their strong performance in the third quarter, as they outscored Scranton, 23-11. They also outrebounded the Lady Royals by a 38-26 margin and outscored Scranton, 18-6, on second chance opportunities, as well.
The University of Scranton women's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, as they host Susquehanna in a Landmark Conference match-up inside the Long Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--