Box Score Postgame Press Conference
SCRANTON, Pa. – Junior guard Bridget Monaghan (Florham Park, N.J./Morristown-Beard) broke the program's single-season three point record and The University of Scranton women's basketball team (27-2) punched a ticket to the Sweet 16 with a 65-53 victory over the Babson College Beavers (20-8) in NCAA Tournament Second Round action on Saturday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.
The Lady Royals are headed to the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in the last eight seasons and the 23rd time in program history.
Scranton will take on NYU (24-1) in next weekend's Sweet 16 matchup at a place and time yet to be determined.
The Violets picked up victories over Washington & Lee and Bates to advance out of the first two rounds.
After Babson scored the first points of the game, the Lady Royals scored the next seven and would go on to lead for the final 38 minutes of the game. Following the quick 7-2 spurt, the two teams traded baskets for a majority of the first quarter and Scranton held a 17-13 lead before junior Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) buried a shot from half court as time expired to extend the lead to seven after one. In the second quarter, the hosts kept the Beavers at arm's length with a seven point lead throughout and Monaghan broke the three point record with her 72nd triple of the season for a 33-23 lead at the 3:19 mark. A jumper from junior Kyra Quigley (Drexel Hill, Pa./Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr) in the final minute stretched the halftime advantage to 37-25.a
The Beavers opened the second half on a 13-6 run and a pair of Samantha Smith free throws with 3:35 left in the third quarter cut the lead to 43-38, but Monaghan quickly responded with a layup on the other end to stretch the lead back to seven. Monaghan and Babson's Megan Bauman traded baskets in the final 15 seconds of the quarter as the Lady Royals held a 50-43 lead. From there, Scranton scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter as they managed to hold Babson scoreless for the first six plus minutes of the quarter. A Monaghan jumper made it a 59-43 game with 3:23 to play, but the Beavers would not go quietly and sliced the lead back to six at 59-53 in the final minute. However, Angelini and graduate student Abby Anderson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) combined to go a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final 38 seconds to preserve the win.
Monaghan buried five threes en route to a game-high 25 points, while Anderson registered 17 points of her own to go with seven rebounds and seven assists.
For Monaghan, the junior broke Bridgette Mann's record of 71 three pointers from the 2017-18 season and continues to lead the nation in three point shooting at 49.7% (74-of-149).
Babson was led by Smith with 19 points and Bauman with 12.
The Lady Royals shot 47.1% (24-of-51) from the floor and 47.4% (9-of-16) from deep and were able to limit the Beavers to 21-of-59 (35.6%) from the field and 5-of-24 (20.8%) from long range.
Stay tuned to athletics.scranton.edu in the coming days for more information on next weekend's Sweet 16 matchup.
--LADY ROYALS--
