SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The duo of senior Maddie Hartnett (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) and sophomore Kaeli Romanowski (Lake Ariel, Pa./Western Wayne) combined for 33 points to help lead The No. 7/8 University of Scranton women's basketball team (21-2, 14-2 Landmark) to a 62-51 victory over the Susquehanna River Hawks (15-8, 10-6 Landmark) on Saturday afternoon at Houts Gymnasium in Selinsgrove.
Romanowski went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute to help the Lady Royals preserve an eighth straight victory.
Scranton used a dominant defensive first quarter to build an early lead and a Hartnett jumper made it 14-2 with 3:56 to go in the period. Head coach Ben O'Brien's team held a 15-3 lead after one. Five straight points from sophomore Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) in the second quarter helped extend the lead to 19 at 24-5 before Susquehanna began to battle back and cut the lead back to 13 at 27-14 at the 3:26 mark. Hartnett responded with a three on the other end and Scranton eventually took a 31-16 advantage into the locker room.
After a Kranson layup made it a 36-23 game at the 6:46 mark of the third quarter, the River Hawks were able to put together a 9-0 run which sliced the deficit to four. Freshman Katie Gorski (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville Township) halted the run with a three and Scranton held a 41-34 lead after three following a jumper from Romanowski with 0:52 left. Hartnett and Romanowski combined to score seven straight points for the Lady Royals to open the fourth quarter which extended the lead back to double digits at 48-36 with 8:12 remaining. Susquehanna was unable to get any closer than seven over the final eight plus minutes and the visitors went 9-of-12 from the line in the final stanza to ice the victory.
Romanowski scored 11 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter and matched her career-high with 10 rebounds, while Hartnett tallied a season-high 15 points. Senior Maddy Ryan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) added 10 points of her own on 4-of-7 shooting.
Julia Pinckert led the River Hawks with 14 points and Carly George added 12 points and 13 boards in the setback.
Scranton shot 33.3% (20-of-60) from the floor, 29.4% (5-of-17) from long range and 63.0% (17-of-27) from the free throw line. Susquehanna was 18-of-45 (40.0%) from the field, 5-of-14 (35.7%) from beyond the arc and 10-of-17 (58.8%) at the charity stripe.
O'Brien's team held a 38-33 edge on the glass behind Romanowski's 10 boards and a career-high eight from Gorski. Romanowski and Ryan also tallied four steals apiece as Susquehanna turned the ball over 18 times.
The Lady Royals are back in action on Wednesday evening at Lycoming with start time slated for 7 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--
