Scranton, Pa. - For the second time in as many years, the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team defeated the University of Scranton, earning a 64-61 decision in non-conference action Monday night at the Long Center. Senior guard
Chantel Anthony (Middletown, N.Y.) tied her season-highs with 15 points and 9 assists while senior
Vanessa Lawson (Kingston, N.Y.) posted her first double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The Blue Knights improved to 9-1 overall as the Royals dropped to 5-3.
Following a first half that featured six ties and two lead changes, the Mount owned a 27-24 advantage at the break. The Blue Knights opened the second half on a 6-0 run, thanks to two lay-ups from senior Jackie Markert (Voorheesville, N.Y.) and a bucket from junior Meredith Paggi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), to take their biggest lead of the night, 33-24.
Over the next six minutes, Scranton replied with a 17-8 run to completely erase the nine-point deficit and tie the score at 41. Senior Julie Brophy (Exton, Pa.) had five points during the run and freshman Colleen McHale (Scranton, Pa.) drilled a three-pointer at 11:56 to bring the teams back to even.
Anthony responded on the ensuing possession, draining her second three-pointer of the night to start a decisive 11-4 run for the Blue Knights. The senior connected on a pair of free throws that resulted from a technical foul on the Scranton bench and then capped the run with her third three-pointer at the 8:58 mark to give the Mount a 52-45 lead.
Trailing by as many as eight with less than four minutes to play, the Royals clawed their way back into the game. Senior Michelle Fabio (Brick, N.J.) hit a lay-up with 1:35 remaining to close the gap to four, and after Paggi scored at the other end, senior Stephanie Remington (Catasauqua, Pa.) knocked down a trey to cut the lead to three. Then, with thirty-two second to play, Anthony missed the front end of a one-and-one, opening the door for Scranton. With eighteen seconds on the clock, Fabio took the ball to the basket, made the lay-up, and was fouled on the play. The senior missed the potential game-tying free throw, leaving Scranton down one.
Forced to foul to extend the game, the Royals sent Lawson to line, where she missed a pair of attempts. Scranton, now with a chance to win the game, turned the ball over on a traveling violation with four seconds to play and immediately fouled Anthony on the inbounds play. Anthony drained her two free throws to set the final three-point margin. A last-second heave from the Scranton end would fall well short.
In addition to Anthony and Lawson, Mount Saint Mary got 10 points from Meredith Paggi, a junior transfer from Scranton, and 8 points and 8 rebounds from Jackie Markert. The Blue Knights were 25-of-60 from the field (41.7-percent) and turned the ball over 20 times.
Scranton received a career-high tying 17 points from Fabio and 11 points from Brophy, but poor free throw shooting would lead to their demise. The Royals connected on just 7-of-19 attempts in the game (36.8%) and were 5-of-15 in the second half (33.3%). Scranton shot 36.9-percent from the field and was 6-of-25 from behind the three-point arc while turning the ball over 17 times.
The Mount has completed their schedule for the first semester and will next take the floor on January 5 at Polytechnic University. Scranton hosts Kean University on Wednesday, December 19, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
