CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Sophomore Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) hit the go-ahead layup with 0:12 left in overtime and converted the and-one opportunity as The No. 6 University of Scranton women's basketball team (10-0) defeated the No. 18 DeSales Bulldogs (7-2) in a 68-63 overtime thriller on Tuesday night at Billera Hall Gymnasium in Center Valley.
DeSales trailed 66-63 and had the ball with a chance to tie, but freshman Meghan Lamanna (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) forced a key steal and senior Maddie Hartnett (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) iced the victory with two clutch free throws with 0:03 remaining.
The game was a back-and-forth affair that featured nine ties and 10 lead changes as the Bulldogs forced overtime with a game-tying jumper from Mikaela Reese in the waning seconds of regulation.
Three of the last four meetings between the two programs have been decided by six points or less.
DeSales led 12-6 in the early going when Kranson hit a jumper to ignite an 8-1 run over the remainder of the quarter and a Hartnett three made it a 14-13 game in favor of the Lady Royals after one. The two teams traded baskets for much of the second quarter and a three from sophomore Kaeli Romanowski (Lake Ariel, Pa./Western Wayne) gave Scranton a 23-21 edge at the 4:07 mark before the Bulldogs eventually took a 28-26 lead into the locker room.
A layup from senior Maddy Ryan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) with 5:29 left in the third quarter brought the visitors within one at 33-32 and sparked a 14-4 stretch that was capped off by a pair of threes from Lamanna to make it a 44-37 game. Head coach Ben O'Brien's team then took a 44-39 lead into the fourth quarter. Lamanna sank her third three of the game for a 50-47 advantage with 4:42 to play, but the Bulldogs battled back and later scored the final five points of the game to force overtime after Reese's afore-mentioned jumper.
The Lady Royals scored the first seven points of the extra session and senior Allie Lynch's (Villanova, Pa./Academy of Notre Dame de Namur) layup opened up a 61-54 lead with 2:24 left. In the final minute, Scranton led 63-57 before DeSales hit threes on consecutive possessions to force a 63-all tie with 0:25 left, which set the stage for Kranson's go-ahead layup off a feed from Ryan.
Kranson notched her third double-double of the season with a game-high 21 points (8-of-9 FT) and 11 rebounds, while Ryan added a season-high 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Lamanna chipped in with 10. Romanowski added nine points of her own and Hartnett delivered seven points and six rebounds.
Mikali Donmoyer led DeSales with 15 points and the duo of Reese and Megan Bealer added 14 apiece.
Scranton shot 40.0% (20-of-50) from the floor, 33.3% (6-of-18) from long range and 66.7% (22-of-33) from the charity stripe on the evening. DeSales was 21-of-62 (33.9%) from the field, 7-of-23 (30.4%) from deep and 14-of-19 (73.7%) from the free throw line.
O'Brien's team held a 47-31 edge on the board led by Kranson's 11 and six apiece from Hartnett and Ryan.
The Lady Royals return to action on Friday at Mount Saint Mary with tip-off set for 5 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--
