SCRANTON, Pa. – The No. 9/15 University of Scranton women's basketball team (16-2, 9-2 Landmark) used a dominant first quarter and never looked back en route to a 73-26 victory over the Drew University Rangers (6-12, 4-7 Landmark) on Wednesday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.

Scranton led 26-3 after the first quarter and was able to hold the Rangers to 17.6% shooting on the night, which marked a season-low by an opponent.

It is also the seventh time that the Lady Royals have held the opposition under 40 points this season.

The Lady Royals scored the first nine points of the game and a layup by sophomore Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) opened up a 9-0 advantage at the 8:05 mark. Head coach Ben O'Brien's team held a 16-3 lead later in the quarter when a Kranson jumper ignited a 10-0 run over the final 3:13 and freshman Meghan Lamanna (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) sank a pair of free throws in the final minute to make it 26-3 after one. The run carried over into the second quarter and consecutive threes from senior Maddie Hartnett (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) stretched the lead to 36-5 with 5:34 remaining. Fellow senior Allie Lynch (Villanova, Pa./Academy of Notre Dame de Namur) scored the final five points of the half for the Lady Royals and her three in the waning seconds made it a 44-14 game.

In the third quarter, Scranton held a 57-24 lead with 1:49 to go and scored the final four points to stretch the lead to 61-24. After Drew opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, the Lady Royals were able to close out the contest with a 10-0 run over the final seven plus minutes including a pair of threes from senior Jenna Larrabee (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill).

Kranson paced the hosts with a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds, while Hartnett added nine points and Lynch came through with eight.

Olivia Aliotta and Jamie Struble had five points apiece to pace Drew.

The Lady Royals shot 40.0% (24-of-60) from the floor and 27.0% (10-of-37) from deep on the night and held Drew to the 17.6% (9-of-51) from the field and 11.1% (2-of-18) from beyond the arc.

Scranton held a decisive 48-23 edge in the rebounding battle behind Kranson's eight boards and five apiece from graduate student Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) and Mackenzie Steele (Susquehanna, Pa./Susquehanna).

The University of Scranton women's basketball team will hit the road to take on Goucher on Saturday afternoon with opening tip slated for 4 p.m.

--LADY ROYALS--