Box Score
Box Score
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - In a game between two preseason top ten teams that lived up to the hype, senior forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) scored a game-high 21 points to earn most valuable player honors, as the fifth-ranked University of Scranton women's basketball team knocked off host and eighth-ranked Rochester, 63-59, on Saturday night in the title game of the 2016 Chuck Resler Invitational.
For Payonk, it was also an historic evening for her personally, as she scored her 1,000th career point early in the first half. The senior forward now becomes one of just 28 student-athletes in program history to net 1,000 points in a career at Scranton.
In the opening half, Scranton (now 2-0 on the year) got off to a fast start, opening up a 16-10 lead after the first 10 minutes of action. In the second quarter, it was more of the same, as Scranton outscored Rochester (1-1 overall with the defeat), 16-14, to take a 32-24 lead into the break.
Out of intermission, Rochester finally started to chip away at the Scranton lead, and after the Lady Royals took a nine-point edge (36-27) early in the third frame, the host Yellowjackets went on a mini spurt to take their first lead of the evening at 43-42 late in the period.
But, Scranton ended the third quarter strong, scoring the final four points of the frame to go up 46-43 entering the fourth.
In the final frame, Rochester quickly took the lead back at 50-49 with six minutes left, but it proved to be the final time all night the Yellowjackets would hold the edge over the Lady Royals.
The ballgame came to a head with 5:11 left knotted up at 52-all. Here, sophomore guard Bridgette Mann (Canadensis, Pa./Wallenpaupack) proceeded to take the game over for Scranton, as she scored seven points in a row for the Lady Royals. The 7-2 Lady Royal run gave them a 59-54 lead with 2:33 left.
This deficit proved to be too much to come back from for Rochester, but the Yellowjackets didn't go away quietly, as they sliced the lead down to 59-57 with 29 seconds left. But, Mann was fouled on the proceeding inbound pass and nailed two free throws, giving Scranton a 61-57 lead.
With eight seconds left, Rochester nailed two free throws of their own to cut the lead back down to two points (61-59), but once again, Mann was fouled after a successful inbound, and nailed two more free throws with seven seconds left to put Rochester away for good.
In the final seven minutes of the game, Mann absolutely took over, scoring Scranton's last 14 points (nine of which came on free throws) to lift the Lady Royals to the four-point victory. For the game, Mann ended with 20 points to earn All-Tournament honors for the weekend
Elsewhere, Payonk got to her 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor, along with a 6-for-6 effort from the charity stripe. She also went into double-figures in rebounds in the victory, notching her first double-double of the year after snatching a game-high 14 'boards off the glass.
The other double-digit scorer for Scranton was senior forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack), who finished with a double-double of her own with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
In the win, Scranton essentially won the game thanks to a perfect night from the free throw line, as the Lady Royals went 17-of-17 from the charity stripe in the contest. The Lady Royals also once again had a strong night on defense, holding Rochester to just 21.2 percent shooting from the floor on the evening.
The University of Scranton women's basketball team returns to action on Tuesday night, as they host Cabrini in their 2016-17 home season opener. Tip-off inside the John Long Center is set for 6 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--
