SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The No. 4 University of Scranton women's basketball team (20-0, 9-0 Landmark) outscored Susquehanna by a 22-3 margin in the fourth quarter and remained unbeaten with a 56-36 victory over the River Hawks (7-13, 2-7 Landmark) on Wednesday night at Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium in Selinsgrove.

Scranton led 34-33 at the end of three and a jumper by senior Bridget Monaghan (Florham Park, N.J./Morristown-Beard) opened the scoring in the fourth quarter to fuel the 22-3 run through the quarter. In fact, the Lady Royals held Susquehanna without a point over the final 7:48 game and closed the game with 17 straight points.

The 20-0 start is the best for the program since Scranton went unbeaten in the 2015-16 regular season at 25-0.

Both teams battled defensively through much of the first quarter and after Susquehanna scored the first five points of the game, the Lady Royals responded to take a 12-9 lead after one following a jumper by junior Maddy Ryan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) with 0:18 to go. Senior Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) hit a jump shot of her own to begin the scoring in the second quarter and launch an 11-3 run that resulted in a 23-12 lead with 3:59 to go in the first half. The Lady Royals used a pair of free throws by Monaghan in the final seconds of the quarter to keep the lead in double digits at 28-18 headed into the locker room.

After Scranton led 31-18 just over a minute into the third quarter, the River Hawks used a layup by Olivia Brandt to begin a 15-3 run over the remainder of the period and Brandt hit another layup to cut the lead to one at 34-33 at the end of three. From there, the afore-mentioned bucket by Monaghan and a pair of free throws led to a 39-33 edge before a Susquehanna three cut the deficit in half with 7:48 remaining. Monaghan immediately responded with a key jumper to stretch the lead back to five and the River Hawks would not score again as the Lady Royals forced four turnovers during that stretch.

Monaghan and freshman Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) combined to score 15 of Scranton's 22 points in the decisive fourth quarter. The duo also combined to go 7-of-9 from the free throw line to preserve the victory.

Kranson posted her second double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Ryan added 13 points and 12 boards and Monaghan came through with 13 points and four assists.

For Ryan, Wednesday marked her third double-double of the season and her 12 rebounds are the second-highest total of her career.

Kaitlyn Lynch paced Susquehanna with 15 points in the setback.

The Lady Royals shot 28.4% (19-of-67) from the floor, 14.3% (2-of-14) from deep and 69.7% (16-of-23) from the free throw line, while holding the River Hawks to a 12-of-44 (27.3%) line from the floor and 4-of-13 (30.8%) from long range.

Scranton held an important 47-39 edge on the glass including 17 offensive rebounds led by five offensive boards apiece from Kranson and Ryan. Angelini also corralled two offensive rebounds and had six total rebounds on the night.

The visitors also had 14 steals as all five starters tallied at least two and Ryan led the way with four thefts.

Head coach Ben O'Brien's team returns home to host rival Catholic on Saturday afternoon at the John Long Center with action slated to get underway at 2 p.m.

--LADY ROYALS--