FEBRUARY 24, 2007
SCRANTON WOMEN DOWN KING'S 79-63 FOR FREEDOM
CONFERENCE TITLE
(Lady Royals Gain D-III National Berth)
SCRANTON -- Senior all-American forward Taryn
Mellody scored 19 points and the University of Scranton women's
basketball team scorched the nets in the second half at a 64.0 percent
clip s the Lady Royals downed visiting King's College 79-63 in the
Freedom Conference championship game Saturday in the John Long Center.
With the win, Scranton, ranked fourth nationally in Division III,
improved to 25-2 on the year while securing the conference's automatic
bid into the NCAA Division III National Tournament. King's, meanwhile,
fell to 19-8 as the Lady Monarchs lost for just the third time since the
start of January.
Scranton took a 34-30 lead into the halftime break thanks to eight
points each from Mellody and fellow all-American Allison Matt. But
King's would battle back to tie the score at 40-40 on a bucket down low
from Andrea Hochstuhl with 16:51 remaining in the contest. But Scranton
would go on a 10-2 spurt and built a 50-42 lead on a Mellody
three-pointer with 14:26 left. King's cut the lead to 50-45 on a
three-pointer by Kaitlyn Fiorino on its next possession, but Scranton
answered with a short jumper from Kathleen Daly and a three-pointer by
Matt to extend the lead to 55-45 with 12:56 on the clock.
King's attempted to answer when Casey Heitman drained a three-pointer on
the Lady Monarchs next possession, but an 8-0 run by Scranton was capped
by a Mellody trey as Scranton's lead swelled to 63-48 with 10:16
remaining. King's would cut the lead to 69-59 on a lay-up by Heitman
with 4:25 left, but the Lady Monarchs would draw no closer as Scranton
closed out the game with a 10-4 run to secure the victory.
Mellody was 9-of-17 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range.
Matt, who was named the tournament most valuable player, netted 17
points with nine rebounds and seven assists. Daly was solid off the
bench for the Lady Royals with 14 points and five boards.
Fiorino led King's with 14 points and three assists while Hochstuhl
tallied 13 points and eight rebounds. Jenna Palumbo and Heitman added
nine points each while Lauren Kendra chipped in with six points and
seven assists.
King's must now await word on a possible on a outside chance of
receiving an at-large berth when the NCAA field is announced Monday
morning at the following link:
http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/womens/schedules/diviii
The women's field will include 63 teams — 39 conference champions, 20
at-large berths from those conferences (Pool C), and four teams who are not in
those 39 conferences (Pool B).
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON 79, KING'S 63
KING'S (19-8)
Kaitlyn Fiorino 4-16 3-4 14; Andrea Hochstuhl 5-10 2-2 13; Casey Heitman
4-6 0-0 9; Jenna Palumbo 3-12 2-2 9; Lauren Kendra 3-8 0-0 6; Kaitlyn
Malshefski 3-3 0-0 6; Brittany Atzert 2-5 0-0 4; Sarah Darling 1-2 0-0
2. Totals 25-62 7-8 63.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (25-2)
Mellody, Taryn 9-17 1-2 23; Matt, Allison 7-16 2-2 17; Daly, Kathleen
4-6 6-10 14; Fabio, Michelle 4-6 1-2 9; Williams, Tiffaney 3-8 0-0 6;
Thran, Casey 2-4 0-0 5; Remington, Stephanie 2-3 0-0 5; Brophy, Julie
0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 10-16 79.
King's................................. 30 33 - 63
The University of Scranton.... 34 45 - 79
3-point goals-King's 6-23 (Kaitlyn Fiorino 3-9; Jenna Palumbo 1-9; Casey
Heitman 1-2; Andrea Hochstuhl 1-2; Lauren Kendra 0-1), The University of
Scranton 7-13 (Mellody, Taryn 4-7; Remington, Stephanie 1-1; Thran,
Casey
1-2; Matt, Allison 1-3).
Fouled out--King's-None, The University of Scranton-None.
Rebounds-King's 30 (Andrea Hochstuhl 8), The University of Scranton 39
(Matt, Allison 9). Assists-King's 18 (Lauren Kendra 7), The University
of Scranton 26 (Matt, Allison 7).
Total fouls-King's 13, The University of Scranton 11.
A-1,800
