Scranton took a 42-33 lead into the break on the back of 24 points from Mellody. Mellody was outstanding hitting on 7-8 and 4-5 from three. Courtney Cunningham was nearly keeping pace with 16 of her own, on 6-9 shooting. The Rangers fought back from a tough start to pull within the nine point Royal edge. Scranton scored the first 10 points of the game and led 22-9 at the ten minute mark. Mellody had 14 points in the first ten minutes of play. The Royals maintained the 13-point advantage until the six minute mark, 31-18. The Rangers began their steady comeback with five straight points from Cunningham, but Mellody again responded with a jumper, a lay-up and a three with 47 seconds left in the half for a 42-31 Royal lead. Cunningham’s slicing drive and lay-up brought the score to the 42-33 halftime final. The Rangers would have been even closer, but Cunningham’s 55-foot banked-in three at the buzzer was called off.
In the second, the Rangers continued to attack the Royals’ nationally ranked defense as Drew head coach Karin Harvey got her team to push the ball in transition for a number of key easy hoops. The Royals scored the second period’s first point for a 43-33 advantage. After that the Rangers reeled off an 11-0 run, led by the All-Freedom duo of Cunningham and Kraft, to take a one point lead. Cunningham had three steals and four points in the run and Kraft added five points. The game went back and forth for the next five minutes as the lead changed hands three times and the score was tied four times. At 12:28 Jessica DelVecchio hit a three from the corner to give Drew a 51-48 lead, the largest of the game for the hosts.
The decisive run of the game began with a Tiffany Williams lay-up with 10:44 left in the game. The Rangers had done a good job nullifying the Royals’ inside advantage to that point, but Williams had three lay-ups during Scranton’s 16-2 run. Mellody was involved again, hitting a three and a pair of free throws. By 7:47 left, the Royals had built a 67-54 lead. The Rangers rallied again, cutting the lead back down to nine on an Allison Hartnett trey at the 6:23 mark. Unfortunately for the Rangers, they could pull no closer as Scranton opened up the 15 point lead by the final horn.
The final score is a bit flattering for the Royals as outside of the three minutes that began the game and the four minute spurt in the second half, the Rangers played the No. 4 team in the country; Drew outscored Scranton 64-55 in the remaining 33 minutes. If not for Mellody’s career night, the Rangers could have pulled off a major upset.
Newspaper Box Score LROYALS vs Drew Rangers 01/13/07 1:00 pm at Drew University At Drew University LROYALS 81, DREW RANGERS 66 LROYALS (13-1, 4-0) Mellody, Taryn 10-14 11-13 37; Matt, Allison 5-12 2-2 14; Williams, Tiffaney 4-6 1-2 9; Daly, Kathleen 2-4 2-5 6; Thran, Casey 1-6 2-2 4; Waiters, Tammy 2-5 0-0 4; Fabio, Michelle 1-3 1-2 3; Mooney, Ryan 1-2 0-0 2; Remington, Stephanie 1-4 0-0 2; Brophy, Julie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 19-26 81. DREW RANGERS (7-7, 2-2) Courtney Cunningham 9-17 6-7 25; Melissa Kraft 4-13 4-4 14; Jessica Delvecchio 2-2 0-0 6; JaQuelia Conley 1-1 4-4 6; Laura Methvin 2-6 2-7 6; Allison Hartnett 2-6 0-0 5; Genie Valantassis 2-2 0-0 4; Maggie Marquis 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 16-22 66. LROYALS....................... 42 39 - 81 Drew Rangers.................. 33 33 - 66 3-point goals-LROYALS 8-20 (Mellody, Taryn 6-9; Matt, Allison 2-7; Thran, Casey 0-2; Remington, Stephanie 0-1; Brophy, Julie 0-1), Drew Rangers 6-11 (Melissa Kraft 2-7; Jessica Delvecchio 2-2; Allison Hartnett 1-1; Courtney Cunningham 1-1). Fouled out--LROYALS-None, Drew Rangers-None. Rebounds-LROYALS 35 (Daly, Kathleen 8), Drew Rangers 31 (Laura Methvin 9). Assists-LROYALS 17 (Matt, Allison 7), Drew Rangers 8 (Maggie Marquis 3). Total fouls-LROYALS 18, Drew Rangers 18. A-210