SCRANTON, Pa. – Sophomore Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) scored a career-high 30 points and The No. 6 University of Scranton women's basketball team (3-0) outscored TCNJ (2-2) by a 30-12 margin in the fourth quarter to complete a 76-69 comeback victory over the Lions on Saturday evening at the John Long Center in Scranton.

The Lady Royals took the lead for good at 64-63 on a layup from Kranson with 3:03 to play and came as part of a 15-0 run over the final four plus minutes. TCNJ held a 63-57 lead at the 4:27 mark when graduate student Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) sank three free throws to spark the comeback.

Scranton scored the first five points of the game and led 11-6 after Kranson's layup, but the Lions answered with a 20-6 run over the final 6:38 of the period for a 26-17 lead. In the second quarter, TCNJ led by as many as 15 at 39-24 before the Lady Royals managed to slice the halftime deficit to 10 with senior Maddie Hartnett's (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) layup at the buzzer that made it a 42-32 game.

Angelini and Kranson combined to score 12 of the Lady Royals' 14 points during a 14-4 run which resulted in a 46-all deadlock at the 4:10 mark of the third quarter. The Lions' Julia Setaro broke the tie with a three and the visitors then closed out the quarter with an 11-0 run to take a 57-46 lead for the time being. From there, the Lady Royals registered the first nine points of the fourth quarter and fought back within two at 57-55 with 5:45 to play, which set the stage for the afore-mentioned late comeback over the final 4:27.

Kranson led all scorers with the 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting and was joined in double figures by sophomore Kaeli Romanowski (Lake Ariel, Pa./Western Wayne) who added 12 points, five rebounds and five steals. Angelini contributed nine points (3-of-4 FG), while Hartnett chipped in with seven points and six boards.

For Kranson, the 30 points just eclipsed her previous career-high of 29 that had been set in a victory over Elizabethtown on Jan. 13, 2023.

Setaro paced TCNJ with 19 points and Izzy Leazier registered 17 points of her own in the setback.

The Lady Royals shot 45.5% (30-of-66) from the floor and 2-of-16 (12.5%) from deep in the contest and the Lions were 22-of-48 (45.8%) from the field and 13-of-29 (44.8%) from long range.

Scranton held a 37-28 edge in the rebounding battle led by Kranson's seven and Hartnett's six.

The Lady Royals are back in action on Monday night versus Albright at the John Long Center with opening tip set for 7 p.m.  
 

--ROYALS--