Remington scored 11 points, including a 3-pointer to break a 63-63 tie with 33 seconds remaining, and Daly scored six of her 10 points during a three-minute span late in the second-half as the Lady Royals improved to 16-2 overall and 7-0 in the Freedom Conference. Scranton, which shot nearly 47 percent in the second-half to erase a two-point halftime deficit, also received 14 points apiece from senior guards Taryn Mellody (Dunmore, Pa./Bishop O’Hara) and Allison Matt (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic).
Junior guard Moira Donohue (Philadelphia, Pa./Cardinal Dougherty) scored a game-high 24 points and senior forward Rachel Joyce (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Aggies, now 7-9 overall and 3-4 in league play.
The Lady Royals appeared to put Monday’s 69-49 loss to Mt. St. Mary (NY) behind them by bolting out to a 7-0 lead en route to building up a 15-point advantage, 24-9. Donohue then took over for Delaware Valley by scoring 10 of her 13 first-half points in the final nine minutes of play as the Aggies went on a 21-4 run to take a 30-28 halftime lead. Scranton’s only baskets during the run came on lay-ups by senior forward Casey Thran (Dalton, Pa./Abington Heights) with 3:11 and 40 seconds remaining, respectively. Thran was another member of the Lady Royal bench who provided a big spark by finishing with nine points, four rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes of action.
The game remained close throughout much of the second-half. Dononhue buried a 3-pointer and followed it up with a jump shot to give the Aggies a 46-41 lead with 13:28 remaining, before Remington and Matt buried 3-pointers and senior center Tiffaney Williams (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) added four points during a 14-7 rally to give Scranton a 55-53 advantage with 7:13 left. Williams, seeing her first action since suffering a leg injury in last Saturday’s 69-68 victory over DeSales, finished with six points and a game-high five blocks.
After Matt connected on a pair of free throws to break a 55-55 tie with 5:55 remaining, Daly came through for Scranton by connecting on a lay-up off an assist by freshman guard Ryan Mooney (Spring City, Pa./Pius X) and adding two free throws with 3:37 left to give the Lady Royals a 61-57 lead. Delaware Valley regained the lead on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Kim Vennera (Norristown, Pa./Kennedy-Kenrick) and a lay-up by Donohue, 62-61, less than a minute later, before Daly came through again with a basket to give Scranton a 63-62 advantage with 2:30 left.
Donohue tied the game for the final time by making one of two free throws with 54 seconds remaining before Remington’s game-changing 3-pointer 21 seconds later. After the Aggies failed to score after coming out of a timeout, Thran hit two free throws with 22 seconds remaining and Remington added a pair with 10 seconds left to push the lead to six, 69-63. Donohue hit an NBA-range 3-pointer before Thran connected on two more free throws with two seconds left to set the final score.
The Lady Royals out-rebounded the Aggies, 45-33, and connected on 13 of 14 free throw attempts (92.9 percent) in the second-half after attempting only one charity toss in the first-half.
Scranton will host the Rangers of Drew University in Freedom Conference action on Saturday, January 27, beginning at 1:00 p.m. at the Long Center.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (16-2/7-0 Freedom) Mellody, Taryn 6-14 0-0 14; Matt, Allison 5-14 2-2 14; Remington, Stephanie 3-7 2-2 11; Daly, Kathleen 4-9 2-2 10; Thran, Casey 2-4 5-6 9; Williams, Tiffaney 2-5 2-2 6; Waiters, Tammy 2-3 0-1 4; Brophy, Julie 1-2 0-0 2; Fabio, Michelle 1-5 0-0 2; Healy, Marisa 0-1 0-0 0; Davis, Claire 0-0 0-0 0; Mooney, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-65 13-15 72. DELAWARE VALLEY (7-9/3-4 Freedom) Moira Donohue 10-20 1-3 24; Rachel Joyce 5-21 5-7 15; Shannon O'Neill 3-10 2-2 10; Brooke Dittmar 3-4 2-2 8; Kim Vennera 3-3 0-0 7; Dena Santoro 1-2 0-0 2; Angela Mensch 0-0 0-0 0; Ashley McLeod 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 10-14 66. The University of Scranton.... 28 44 - 72 Delaware Valley............... 30 36 - 66 3-point goals-The University of Scranton 7-16 (Remington, Stephanie 3-4; Matt, Allison 2-6; Mellody, Taryn 2-4; Brophy, Julie 0-1; Mooney, Ryan 0-1), Delaware Valley 6-15 (Moira Donohue 3-8; Shannon O'Neill 2-4; Kim Vennera 1-1; Rachel Joyce 0-2). Fouled out--The University of Scranton-None, Delaware Valley-None. Rebounds-The University of Scranton 45 (Daly, Kathleen 9), Delaware Valley 33 (Rachel Joyce 12). Assists-The University of Scranton 20 (Matt, Allison 8), Delaware Valley 17 (Shannon O'Neill 6). Total fouls-The University of Scranton 14, Delaware Valley 11.