SCRANTON, Pa. – The No. 6 University of Scranton women's basketball team (14-0, 3-0 Landmark) shot a season-high 52.2% (35-of-67) from the field and cruised to an 87-67 victory over No. 19/RV Elizabethtown (13-1, 3-1 Landmark) in a matchup of the conference's final two unbeaten on Friday evening at the John Long Center in Scranton.
The 87 points are also a season-high for the Lady Royals and the most that the team has scored since a 98-32 win over Marywood on Nov. 11, 2021.
Scranton led for the final 35 plus minutes of the contest.
This also marks the Lady Royals' fourth straight win against the Blue Jays dating back to the 2019-20 campaign.
Freshman Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) scored seven of her career-high 29 points in the early stages of the first quarter and senior Bridget Monaghan (Florham Park, N.J./Morristown-Beard) buried a three for a 12-8 lead at the 4:43 mark. Later in the quarter, graduate student Sam Rajza (Plains, Pa./Holy Redeemer) and senior Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) hit a three on consecutive possessions as the Lady Royals took a 22-16 lead after one quarter. Scranton then began the second period on an 8-2 run and an Angelini jumper extended the advantage to 30-18 with 7:31 left before the Blue Jays battled back to cut the deficit to eight on a couple of different occasions including at 42-34, but junior Maddy Ryan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) converted on a layup in the final second for a 44-34 halftime lead.
The Lady Royals forced five consecutive Elizabethtown turnovers to begin the third quarter and consecutive threes by Rajza and Monaghan came as part of an 11-0 run to stretch the lead to 55-34 with 6:44 left in the quarter. From there, the Blue Jays were able to cut the lead to 13, but could not get any closer and the hosts led 68-54 after three. Similar to the run to start the third quarter, a Ryan layup fueled an 11-2 surge to open the fourth and Kranson capped the run with seven straight points for a 79-56 lead at the 6:33 mark. Elizabethtown was unable to draw any closer than 19 over the final six plus minutes and Scranton cruised to a 14th straight victory to remain unbeaten on the season.
Friday was a career night offensively for both Kranson and Ryan as the former tallied her career-best 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting and the latter recorded a career-high 24 points on 12-of-17 shooting to go along with nine rebounds (seven offensive).
For Kranson, the 29 point effort surpasses her previous best of 24 that came in a win over Ithaca on Nov. 29 and this marks the third 20 plus point performance of the season for Ryan who had previously scored a career-best 21 in a victory over George Fox on Dec. 29.
Monaghan was 6-of-10 from the field en route to 17 points and also added five assists and four steals, while Angelini registered seven points, five rebounds and a career-best five steals. Her five thefts eclipses the previous career-best of four in a win at Moravian on Jan. 19, 2022.
Scranton was 35-of-67 (52.2%) from the floor and 8-of-16 (50.0%) from deep on the night. On the other side, the Blue Jays shot 40.0% (24-of-60) from the field and 46.2% (6-of-13) from beyond the arc.
The hosts also held a commanding 43-27 advantage on the glass behind Ryan's nine and six from Kranson.
The Lady Royals will head to the Palestra in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon to battle Susquehanna with tip off slated for 2:30 p.m. Click here to purchase tickets for Sunday's game.
--LADY ROYALS--