SCRANTON, Pa. – The No. 10/14 University of Scranton women's basketball team (14-2, 7-2 Landmark) used a dominant first quarter and never looked back en route to an 85-29 victory over the Lycoming Warriors (9-7, 3-6 Landmark) in Landmark Conference action on Wednesday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.
The Lady Royals used a 20-0 run in the first quarter and outscored Lycoming by a 36-5 margin in the opening 10 minutes.
This marked the first meeting between the two programs since a 66-55 Scranton victory on Nov. 19, 2011.
Things were even at three apiece just over two minutes into the game when sophomore Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) hit a jumper to ignite a 20-0 run over the next 3:59 and freshman Meghan Lamanna (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) scored six straight points to cap the run with a 23-3 advantage. Following a Lycoming basket, the Lady Royals then scored 13 consecutive points to end the quarter and graduate student Kyra Quigley (Drexel Hill, Pa./Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr) hit a layup at the buzzer for the 36-5 lead after one. In the second quarter, fellow graduate student Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) scored six out of seven points during a stretch that helped Scranton open up a 50-9 lead and eventually take a 50-13 edge into the locker room.
After the Warriors opened the scoring in the third quarter, senior Maddy Ryan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) hit a layup to ignite an 18-0 run and classmate Allie Lynch (Villanova, Pa./Academy of Notre Dame de Namur) buried a three that made it 68-15 with 2:54 to go in the period. The Lady Royals led 72-21 after three quarters and once again held Lycoming to just eight points in the fourth to preserve the victory.
Kranson and Lamanna led a balanced attack offensively with 13 points apiece, while Ryan added 12 points and Angelini had eight. Lynch contributed seven points and matched her career-high with seven boards for Scranton.
Making her first career start, sophomore Jenna Sloan (Central Square, N.Y./Bishop Grimes) registered two points, tied her career-high with five assists and added a career-best seven steals. The seven steals surpassed the previous career-high of four that had been set on three occasions this season.
Emily Lockard paced the Warriors with 10 points on the evening.
Scranton shot 45.8% (33-of-72) from the floor and 29.2% (7-of-24) from deep and held Lycoming to 20.4% (11-of-54) from the field and 7.7% (1-of-13) from long range.
Head coach Ben O'Brien's team held a 51-28 edge on the glass behind Lynch's seven rebounds and six from Ryan. For Lynch, the seven boards tied her career-high that had previously been set in a victory at Gwynedd Mercy on Nov. 12, 2022.
The Lady Royals will host Juniata on Saturday afternoon at the John Long Center with opening tip slated for 4 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--
