JANUARY 18, 2006
KING’S WOMEN FALL TO
THIRD RANKED SCRANTON, 86-68
SCRANTON – Allison
Matt and Taryn Mellody scored 24 points apiece as the University of
Scranton women’s basketball team posted an 86-68 victory over visiting
King’s College Wednesday at the John Long Center in Scranton.
With the win, Scranton, ranked third nationally, improved to 15-1
overall and 5-0 in Freedom Conference play with its 13th
straight win. King’s slipped to 8-8 and 3-2.
Scranton got out of the gates quickly, opening up a 13-4 lead on the
strength of six points from Mellody and five from Matt. After the teams
traded baskets, Scranton took a 15-6 lead on a Matt basket with 13:52
remaining. After a King’s three-pointer by Jenna Palumbo, the Lady
Royals used a 10-2 run to build a 27-11 lead after a Matt three-pointer
at 10:38.
King’s would counter with a 7-0 run on a pair of foul shots from
Palumbo, a driving lay-up by Lauren Kendra. And another long trey by
Palumbo to bring the Lady Monarchs to within 27-18 with 18:40 left in
the half.
Andrea Hochstuhl would then score six straight points in a 6-4 spurt to
bring the Lady Monarchs to within 31-24 with 5:46 on the clock. But
Scranton would close out the half with a 12-7 surge to take a 43-31 lead
into the break. Matt netted 16 first half points while Mellody added 10.
Hochstuhl and Palumbo topped King’s with eight each.
In the second stanza
the Lady Royals again started hot with a 9-4 spurt to up the lead to
50-36 with 16:03 remaining. After increasing the lead to 77-59 with 3:31
left on a traditional three-point play from Melody with 2:58 left,
King’s would draw no closer than 81-68 after a pair of foul shot from
Beth Jordan.
Jordan, who
celebrated her 22nd birthday by scoring her 1,000th
career point on the first of two foul shots with 4:53 left in the game,
finished the contest with 16 points and seven rebounds. Hochstuhl netted
12 points with eight boards while Casey Heitman added 10 points. Kendra
contributed nine points and four assists while Palumbo finished with
eight.
Tiffaney Williams aided the Scranton cause with 10 points and 10
rebounds.
King’s returns to action Saturday at 1:00 p.m. when the Lady Monarchs
host FDU-Florham in Scandlon Gymnasium.
