SCRANTON, Pa. – Junior guard Bridget Monaghan (Florham Park, N.J./Morristown-Beard) tied a single-game program record with eight three pointers and The No. 12 University of Scranton women's basketball team (2-0) held off a late DeSales rally in a 74-68 win over the No. 9 Bulldogs (0-1) on Saturday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.

Monaghan was 8-of-12 from three-point range and becomes the third player in Lady Royals history to bury eight triples in a game following Bridgette Mann (Dec. 30, 2018) and Anne Gooley (Feb. 13, 1991).

The Florham Park, N.J., native had a career-high 30 points on the night, which surpassed her previous career-high of 22 that was set versus Catholic on Feb. 21, 2021.

DeSales was hot from the jump in this one as they scored the first eight points of the night, but Scranton quickly rallied and a jumper from senior Emily Shurina (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) gave the hosts their first lead at 14-13 with 5:00 left in the first quarter. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter and Monaghan hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds for a 25-23 lead after one. Following consecutive buckets for the Bulldogs, Scranton answered and a three-pointer from junior Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) capped a 16-2 run which stretched the lead to double digits at 41-29 with 2:59 left in the second quarter. DeSales was able to whittle the lead to eight at 42-34 entering the half.

A layup from Angelini made it a 58-48 game with 3:53 to go in the third quarter and the lead remained in the Lady Royals' favor at 60-52 after three quarters of play. After Monaghan connected on one of her eight threes to make it a 66-55 game with 7:36 left, the Bulldogs embarked on a 13-1 run over the next five plus minutes and a Mikaela Reese layup tied things at 67 with 2:20 remaining. DeSales took their first lead since the first quarter with a free throw, but Shurina nailed a three from the corner to put Scranton back in front by two with 1:06 to play. Maria Newsome missed a deep jumper for the Bulldogs on the other end and graduate student Abby Anderson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) buried a three of her own to make it a 73-68 game in the final 20 seconds.

To go along with Monaghan's career-high 30, Anderson had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Lady Royals, while Shurina chipped in with nine points and 10 boards.

Reese paced DeSales with 20 on 8-of-15 shooting.

Scranton shot 40.3% (25-of-62) from the field and buried 43.3% (13-of-30) from beyond the arc, while shooting 11-of-14 (78.6%) at the charity stripe. For the Bulldogs, they shot at a 39.7% (23-of-58) clip from the floor and 8-of-17 (47.1%) from long range.

Head coach Nick DiPillo's squad held a dominant 48-27 edge in the rebounding battle with Shurina's 10 and eight from junior Kyra Quigley (Drexel Hill, Pa./Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr).

The Lady Royals will hit the road to face Ithaca in non-conference action on Wednesday night beginning at 6 p.m.

--LADY ROYALS--