MADISON, N.J. – Graduate student Abby Anderson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) tied the game with nine seconds left to send things to overtime and The University of Scranton women's basketball team outscored Drew by a 10-2 margin in the extra session as the Lady Royals (20-2, 11-0 Landmark) pulled out a 71-63 victory over the Rangers (14-6, 5-6 Landmark) on Wednesday night at Baldwin Gym in Madison.

After Anderson's game-tying layup in regulation, the Lady Royals scored the first seven points of overtime on a Maddie Hartnett (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) three-pointer and two more Anderson layups for a 68-61 lead.

Scranton has now won 14 straight and remains unbeaten in Landmark Conference play with three regular season games remaining.

The Rangers scored seven of the first nine points in the game, but Scranton quickly responded with a 14-5 run over the remainder of the quarter and an Anderson three made it a 16-12 game after one. Head coach Nick DiPillo's squad was able to stretch the lead to nine at 21-12 before Drew embarked on a 13-2 spurt capped by a three-point play from Erin Frederick that gave the hosts a 25-23 edge with 2:05 to play in the second quarter. Scranton would then score the next five points and eventually took a 28-27 lead into halftime.

The two teams traded blows for a majority of the third quarter and things were deadlocked at 38 apiece at the 3:37 mark when Hartnett buried a three to quickly give the Lady Royals the lead back. Senior Emily Shurina (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) hit a pair of free throws in the final minute of the quarter and a late layup from Drew cut the lead to 46-45 headed into the fourth quarter. Shurina sank two more free throws for a 53-47 Scranton advantage with 7:08 remaining, but another three-point play from Frederick fueled a 10-1 run for Drew over the next four plus minutes and a pair of Joey Meyers free throws made it 57-54 in favor of the Rangers. It would not stay that way for long as junior Bridget Monaghan (Florham Park, N.J./Morristown-Beard) buried a three pointer to even things at 57 with 2:22 to play and start the late rally. Consecutive layups from Frederick and Meyers gave the Rangers a 61-57 lead in the final minute when fellow junior Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) sank a jumper to draw the Lady Royals back within two and Kyra Mann missed a pair of free throws prior to Anderson's game tying bucket. 

Monaghan led Scranton with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Anderson notched a double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Elsewhere for the visitors, Shurina knocked down 6-of-7 from the charity stripe for 10 points and Hartnett added nine of her own off the bench.

Meyers (25 points) and Frederick (20) carried the load for Drew offensively as the duo combined to score 45 of the team's 63 points in the game.

The Lady Royals shot 35.9% (23-of-64) from the floor and 27.6% (8-of-29) from deep to go along with a 17-of-21 (81.0%) clip at the free throw line. Drew was 22-of-55 (40.0%) from the field and 3-of-17 (17.6%) from long range, while Scranton held a 44-36 edge in the rebounding battle led by Anderson's 17 and seven from Angelini.

The University of Scranton women's basketball team will head to Elizabethtown for a Landmark Conference battle on Saturday afternoon with opening tip at Thompson Gymnasium slated for 4 p.m.

--LADY ROYALS--