Senior guard Allison Matt (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) tossed in a season-high 23 points and senior guard Taryn Mellody (Dunmore, Pa./Bishop O’Hara) scored 17 of her 19 points in the second-half to lead The University of Scranton to a 72-63 victory over Baruch College in non-conference action Saturday evening.
The Lady Royals, ranked fourth by D3hoops.com and fifth by ESPN/WBCA/USA Today, also received 11 rebounds and seven blocks from senior center Tiffaney Williams (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) to post their fifth straight win and improved to 6-1. The loss dropped the Bearcats to 4-3.
For the second straight game, Scranton built up an early double-digit lead only to watch it fade away. Matt scored 13 first-half points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field, but the Lady Royals committed 15 turnovers that allowed the Bearcats to battle back and tie it at intermission, 31-31. Dominique McClendon and Racquel Reid tossed in 10 points apiece for Baruch in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Mellody took over early in the second-half by scoring 10 straight points during a 12-2 run as Scranton regained the lead, 43-33, with 16:34 remaining. Behind six points apiece by Ally Stamatiades and Karlee Whipple, the Bearcats answered with an 18-8 run over a nine-minute span to tie the game for the fifth time, 51-51, with 7:48 left.
Matt responded by hitting a jump shot, two free throws and a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 rally over the next two minutes as Scranton regained the lead for good, 60-51. The closest the Bearcats got the rest of the way was seven points, 64-57, with 1:33 left.
The Lady Royals shot 52.2 percent in the second-half (12 of 23) to finish a very respectable 45.3 percent for the game (24 of 53), but were guilty of a season-high 28 turnovers. Reid led Baruch with 21 points and McClendon finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. The Bearcats shot only 28.2 percent from the field in the second-half (11 of 39) and 30.6 percent for the game (22 of 72).
Matt is now only 11 points shy of becoming the 24th player in Lady Royals history to score 1000 career points, while Mellody needs 23 points to become one of only four players in Scranton history with 1500 career points. The other three are Jennifer Nish (2,178; 1993-1997), Kelly Halpin (1,865; 1996-2000) and Karen McIntyre (1,631; 1976-1980).
Scranton will break for final exams and resume its schedule on Tuesday, December 19, against Kean University in Union, New Jersey, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (6-1) Matt, Allison 8-12 5-8 23; Mellody, Taryn 7-14 2-2 19; Williams, Tiffaney 2-5 3-4 7; Mooney, Ryan 2-4 2-2 6; Remington, Stephanie 0-5 5-6 5; Fabio, Michelle 2-6 0-1 4; Daly, Kathleen 1-1 2-2 4; Brophy, Julie 1-3 0-0 2; Waiters, Tammy 1-2 0-0 2; Davis, Claire 0-0 0-0 0; Thran, Casey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 19-25 72. BARUCH BEARCATS (5-4) Reid, Racquel 7-23 4-5 21; McClendon, Dominique 5-11 3-5 14; Garnett, Myleka 3-6 2-2 8; Stamatiades, Ally 3-12 0-0 6; Whipple, Karlee 2-11 2-2 6; Trapp, Jody 1-3 2-2 4; Howell, Luisa 1-4 1-2 3; Davis, Kaleia 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 22-72 15-20 63. The University of Scranton.... 31 41 - 72 Baruch Bearcats............... 31 32 - 63 3-point goals-The University of Scranton 5-12 (Mellody, Taryn 3-5; Matt, Allison 2-3; Remington, Stephanie 0-3; Brophy, Julie 0-1), Baruch Bearcats 4-18 (Reid, Racquel 3-10; McClendon, Dominique 1-1; Stamatiades, Ally 0-4; Whipple, Karlee 0-2; Trapp, Jody 0-1). Fouled out--The University of Scranton-None, Baruch Bearcats-Garnett, Myleka; McClendon, Dominique. Rebounds-The University of Scranton 48 (Williams, Tiffaney 11), Baruch Bearcats 37 (Garnett, Myleka 9). Assists-The University of Scranton 13 (Remington, Stephanie 3), Baruch Bearcats 10 (McClendon, Dominique 3). Total fouls-The University of Scranton 16, Baruch Bearcats 19. A-83