SCRANTON, Pa. – Senior Maddy Ryan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) sank a free throw with 0:12 left to help ice the victory and The No. 9/13 University of Scranton women's basketball team (19-2, 12-2 Landmark) outlasted the previously unbeaten No. 8 Catholic University Cardinals (20-1, 13-1 Landmark) in a thrilling 56-51 victory on Saturday at the John Long Center in Scranton.

The Lady Royals held a 54-51 lead when Ryan sank a free throw to make it a four-point game and Catholic's Carly Mulvaney missed an off-balance layup on the ensuing possession as the hosts dealt the rival Cardinals their first defeat of the season.

Things were tied at six apiece with 4:05 to play in the first quarter and Catholic then took a 10-6 lead before graduate student Kyra Quigley's (Drexel Hill, Pa./Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr) layup ignited a 7-2 spurt for Scranton over the remainder of the quarter and senior Allie Lynch (Villanova, Pa./Academy of Notre Dame de Namur) buried a three to help make it a 13-12 game after one. Catholic's Keegan Douglas opened the scoring in the second stanza with a jumper, but senior Maddie Hartnett (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) connected on a three of her own to spark an 11-0 run for the Lady Royals and sophomore Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) capped off the run with a jumper that made it 24-14 at the 6:49 mark. The Cardinals cut the deficit to three at 24-21 before freshmen Katie Gorski (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville Township) and Meghan Lamanna (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) hit a three on consecutive possessions and the Lady Royals took a 32-23 edge into the locker room.

In the third quarter, Scranton clung to a 36-35 lead when Ryan hit two free throws and later converted a three-point play as part of a 7-1 run to make it a 43-36 game after three. Catholic opened the fourth quarter with a 9-3 stretch that cut the Scranton lead to one at 46-45 before Lamanna began a stretch of seven straight points with a jumper and graduate student Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) buried a three that opened up a 53-45 advantage with 3:38 left. The Cardinals got back within three at 54-51, but the Lady Royals collected two offensive rebounds on the next possession which led to Ryan's afore-mentioned free throw and a sixth straight victory.

Ryan led three Lady Royals in double figures with 12 points and matched her career-high with 14 rebounds, while Kranson added 11 points and 12 boards of her own and sophomore Kaeli Romanowski (Lake Ariel, Pa./Western Wayne) chipped in 11 points and five rebounds.

For Ryan, the 14 rebounds ties her previous career-high that had been set in a victory at Gwynedd Mercy on Nov. 12, 2022.

Keegan Douglas paced Catholic with 14 points in the setback.

The Lady Royals shot 30.0% (18-of-60) from the floor, 33.3% (7-of-21) from long range and 68.4% (13-of-19) from the charity stripe in the contest. The Cardinals were 22-of-55 (40.0%) from the field, 2-of-18 (11.1%) from beyond the arc and 5-of-13 (38.5%) at the free throw line.

Scranton held a commanding 47-22 edge in the rebounding battle including 22 offensive rebounds. In fact, Kranson tallied eight offensive rebounds and Ryan had seven.

Head coach Ben O'Brien's team will host Moravian in a Landmark Conference matchup on Wednesday night at the John Long Center with action slated to get underway at 7 p.m.

--LADY ROYALS--