Lady Warriors Fall at Scranton
Second Ranked Royals Prove a Bit Much on Both Ends
Box score

SCRANTON, Pa. --- Lycoming women’s basketball ran into a tall and talented University of Scranton squad on Tuesday evening, falling to the Royals 68-39 in Scranton’s Long Center.  The Lady Warriors drop to 5-18 overall, 1-12 in the Freedom Conference while the nationally second-rated Royals move to 23-1, 13-0.

Scranton kept Lycoming in check by not only playing tough man-to-man defense, but its sheer size proved a huge dividend underneath the glass.  In the first half alone, the Royals commanded a 31-13 edge on the boards, which went a long way to holding the Lady Warriors to a 4-for-27 (14.8 percent) showing from the field.

Freshman Andrea Cooper (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) led the Warriors with 12 points to go along with six rebounds and a pair of steals.  Seniors Danielle Kern (Lehman, Pa./Lake-Lehman) and Amy Kile (Muncy, Pa./Muncy) dropped in nine apiece.  Kern also grabbed eight boards while Kile hit the glass for seven.

Tiffaney Williams led four Royals in double figures with 11 points to go with seven boards.  Taryn Melody, Tammy Waiters, and Molly Klusek added 10 apiece to the effort. Six players had at least four rebounds in leading Scranton to a 50-31 margin on the glass.

Scranton jumped out to an early 12-0 edge from the opening whistle led by six points on lay-ups from Mellody.  Cooper got the Lady Warriors on the board at the 16:16 mark with a nice long jumper from just inside the three-point arc on the right wing.

Lycoming’s first bucket spurred some excellent defense from the Lady Warriors with a pair of steals and a block by Kern on the Royals’ next three possessions.  The Lady Warrior defense held the Royals to only a couple of free throws over the next 5:55 until a jumper at the 10:21 mark by Stephanie Remington gave Scranton a 16-2 advantage.

Freshman Lauren Carey (Old Forge, Pa./Old Forge) added a little more jump to the Lady Warriors’ steps with a three-pointer from the top of the key, but a lay-up by Klusek and a jumper by Julie Brophy quickly reaffirmed Scranton’s lead at 21-7 with 4:35 on the clock.

The Royals found some offensive rhythm in the latter minutes of the half, running the score out to 35-9 as Mellody banked in a jumper with a foot on the line as time expired going into the intermission.

Lycoming struck first in the second half with an outside jumper from sophomore Michelle Wisla (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) and a pair of free throws from Kern.  Scranton eventually caught stride and moved out to a 42-15 advantage with 15:25 on the clock.

Scoring was at a premium for both squads over the next five-plus minutes before Cooper darted through the lane on the way to a lay-up.  Scranton added two more to their total with a pair of free throws from Casey Thran to give the Royals a 49-19 lead with 9:32 to play.

The scoreboard got a little busy following a Warrior timeout as the two squads traded three buckets apiece before Meredith Paggi hit a trey to give Scranton a 60-25 lead.  Kern came right back down the court with a three-pointer the traditional way after cashing out the hoop-and-harm with 4:51 on the clock.

Kern earned another trip to the stripe following an offensive rebound on the Royals’ next possession.  She calmed knocked down both ends of the one-and-one to cut the Warriors’ deficit to 60-30.  Kile made it three consecutive strong possessions for the Warriors, hitting from beyond the arc at the angle on the near sideline.

Klusek stymied the Warriors’ small run with an uncontested lay-up on Scranton’s ensuing trip down the court, but Cooper made up for those with a pair of charity tosses at the 1:50 mark to make the score 62-35.  The two teams traded four-points apiece covering in the waning moments leading to the final horn.

Lycoming caps the 2005-06 season this Saturday, February 18, as the Lady Warriors welcome Delaware Valley College to Lamade Gymnasium for a Freedom Conference match up.  Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.  You can catch all the action live over the Internet as WRLC-FM’s crew of Jimmy Osborne and Josh Williard bring all the plays to your computer via the MSA Sports Network.