News Release

SCRANTON, Pa. — There’s something about the Diversified Invitational that brings out the best in University of Scranton senior guard Taryn Mellody (Dunmore, Pa./Bishop O’Hara).

Mellody, the tournament’s most valuable player in each of the last two seasons, poured in a career-high 29 points as the Lady Royals rolled past Rutgers-Camden, 85-55, to move into Saturday’s championship game for the fifth straight year. Scranton, now 10-1 overall, will face Stevens Institute of Technology, which defeated Goucher College, 58-41, earlier in the evening.

Junior guard Carmen Oyola (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) led Rutgers-Camden, now 4-7, with 11 points and junior guards Imani Hafiz (Franklinville, N.J./Delsea Regional) and Krystal Jankowski (Somerdale, N.J./Sterling) added 10 points apiece.

Mellody connected on 5 of 11 shots from the field en route to scoring 12 points in the first-half as the Lady Royals sprinted out to a 43-19 lead by intermission. Scranton also received a big lift off its bench from junior forward Kathleen Daly (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy), who had eight points and three rebounds in 10 minutes of action. Daly finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds to post the first ‘double-double’ of her career. Oyola and Jankowski combined for 11 of the Scarlet Raptors’ 19 first-half points.

Mellody scored seven points during a 9-5 spurt in the opening two minutes of the second-half as Scranton extended its lead to 30, 52-22. The Lady Royals’ largest lead was 36 points.

Scranton shot 50 percent from the field in the second-half (16 of 32) to finish 44.6 percent for the game. The Lady Royals also pressured Rutgers-Camden into 26 turnovers.

Mellody’s previous career-high of 28 points came in a 77-58 victory over Moravian College in the championship game of the Diversified Invitational on December 11, 2004. For her career, Mellody now has 1,544 points, which is fourth on the Lady Royals’ all-time list.

RUTGERS-CAMDEN (4-7)
Carmen Oyola 4-10 1-2 11; Krystal Jankowski 4-7 2-3 10; Imani Hafiz 3-8 4-4 10; Karen Carter 2-6 3-4 7; Crystal Pezzano 2-4 0-0 6; Alexis Culbreath 2-6 1-2 5; Jennifer Christy 2-6 0-2 4; Jennifer Williams 1-5 0-0 2; Amber Parker 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 11-17 55.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (10-1)
Mellody, Taryn 11-20 6-6 29; Daly, Kathleen 3-8 4-5 10; Brophy, Julie 4-8 0-0 8; Davis, Claire 2-3 2-2 7; Remington, Stephanie 2-4 2-2 6; Matt, Allison 3-7 0-0 6; Williams, Tiffaney 2-5 2-2 6; Fabio, Michelle 2-3 0-0 4;
Mooney, Ryan 2-4 0-0 4; Thran, Casey 1-5 1-1 3; Waiters, Tammy 1-7 0-0 2; Healy, Marisa 0-0 0-0 0. 
Totals 33-74 17-18 85.

Rutgers-Camden................   19   36  -   55
The University of Scranton....   43   42  -   85

3-point goals-Rutgers-Camden 4-12 (Carmen Oyola 2-5; Crystal Pezzano 2-2; Imani Hafiz 0-2; Jennifer Williams 0-3), The University of Scranton 2-13 (Mellody, Taryn 1-5; Davis, Claire 1-2; Brophy, Julie 0-1; Remington, Stephanie 0-1; Matt, Allison 0-1; Mooney, Ryan 0-2; Waiters, Tammy 0-1). Fouled out--Rutgers-Camden-Imani Hafiz, The University of Scranton-None.  Rebounds-Rutgers-Camden 33 (Krystal Jankowski 7), The University of Scranton 45 (Daly, Kathleen 10). Assists-Rutgers-Camden 14 (Alexis Culbreath 5), The
University of Scranton 23 (Matt, Allison 6). Total fouls-Rutgers-Camden 17, The University of Scranton 12. A-400