Scranton Sinks USMMA To Reach Landmark Finals
SCRANTON, Pa. - It's been quite a week for University of Scranton senior forward Kathleen Daly (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy).
On Tuesday, she was named the Landmark Conference Player of the Year. In tonight's 63-44 victory over USMMA at the Long Center, she showed why she deserved the award.
Daly scored a game-high 17 points, pulled down five rebounds and made three steals as the Lady Royals extended their season-long winning streak to 14 games and move into Saturday's championship game at the Long Center against second-seeded Juniata, which defeated Moravian, 61-59, in the other semifinal match-up.
Senior guard Stephanie Remington (Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua) contributed 11 points and freshman guard Megan Kopecki (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) added 10 points and a season-high 10 rebounds as Scranton improved to 20-5 on the season. USMMA, which shot only 26.9 percent from the field (14 of 52) and was guilty of 29 turnovers in ending its season at 15-11, was led by junior guard Kristen Hetsko (Killingsworth, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth) with 12 points and junior guard Stephanie Waller (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East) contributed 11 points and eight rebounds.
Despite its inability to establish any type of offensive flow against Scranton's relentless pressure defense, the Mariners made things interested by battling back from a 14-6 deficit to tie the score at 17-17 with 4:41 left in the first-half. Remington started a 12-0 rally with a traditional 3-point play and ended it with a 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining to give Scranton a 29-17 halftime lead.
The Lady Royals appeared to have the game in check by building up an 18-point advantage with 13:31 remaining. Once again, USMMA fought back and cut the deficit to nine with 7:45 left. After a timeout, Scranton put the game out of reach as Kopecki scored six points during a 10-0 rally over the next three minutes to take a 19-point lead.
Fabio finished with nine points and eight rebounds for Scranton, which struggled throughout the game at the free throw line. The Lady Royals made just 21 of 36 attempts (58.3 percent), including only 3 of 9 in the first-half.
With the win, Scranton reaches the 20-win plateau for the
17th straight season and for the 26th
time in the program's 33-year history.
The Lady Royals swept the regular-season series with Juniata, winning 71-66 in overtime in Huntingdon and 73-54 at the Long Center in the most recent meeting on February 1. Tip-off for Saturday's game will be announced Thursday.