UNION, N.J.—Freshman center Michelle Fabio came off the bench to score a season-high 15 points and pull down six rebounds in 17 minutes of action as The University of Scranton overcame an early 17-0 deficit to pull out an 84-76 victory over Kean University Sunday afternoon at D’Angola Gymnasium.
The Lady Royals, ranked 12th this week by D3hoops.com, also received 14 points from senior forward Tara Gemmel, 11 points and six rebounds from sophomore guard Taryn Mellody and junior guard Kelly Lewandowski and 10 points from freshman guard Julie Brophy to win their eighth straight game and improve to 8-1. Chari’ Cooper led the Cougars, now 4-5, with 19 points and 22 rebounds and Missy Magyar added 14 points.
Magyar scored eight points and Cooper and Danielle Moseley combined for nine more as the Cougars stunned the Lady Royals by jumping out to a 17-0 lead in the opening 4:19 of the first-half. Brophy, Fabio and Lewandowski came off the bench to combine for 16 points as Scranton finally settled down and answered with a 23-7 run to cut the lead to one, 24-23, with 7:55 left in the first-half.
Junior guard Erin Healy scored five of her eight first-half points in the final seven minutes of the first half as the Lady Royals went on a 20-12 spurt to take a 43-38 lead by intermission. Cooper and Moseley combined for 22 rebounds in the first-half as the Cougars out-rebounded Scranton, 28-14, to offset a 15-for-40 shooting effort (37.5 percent).
Leading by four, 65-61, midway through the second-half, Lewandowski sparked a 12-4 run with back-to-back layup as Scranton extended its lead to 77-65 with 4:44 left. Moseley canned a jumper with 2:41 remaining to cap off a 5-0 run to cut Scranton’s lead to five, 77-72, before sophomore guard Allison Matt hit a layup and senior center Eileen Webster converted a traditional 3-point play to push the Lady Royals’ lead back up to 10, 82-72, with less than a minute remaining. Matt finished with eight points, four rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes of action.
The Lady Royals took advantage of the free throw line by connecting on 16 of 19 attempts (84.2 percent). Scranton will take on the University of the Virgin Islands on Tuesday, December 28, in the Virgin Islands.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (8-1) Michelle Fabio 6-9 3-4 15; Tara Gemmel 6-11 2-2 14; Kelly Lewandowski 3-4 5-6 11; Taryn Mellody 5-13 0-0 11; Julie Brophy 4-7 1-1 10; Allison Matt 2-6 3-4 8; Erin Healy 3-6 1-1 8; Eileen Webster 3-8 1-1 7; Maura Kane 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 32-69 16-19 84. KEAN UNIVERSITY (4-5) Chari' Cooper 9-23 1-4 19; Missy Magyar 5-9 2-3 14; Shirley Fernandez 5-10 0-0 11; Chi Clark 3-5 0-0 7; Danielle Moseley 3-11 1-1 7; Brittany Cleveland 3-4 0-0 6; Lashelle Harris 3-6 0-0 6; Tahnisha Barge 2-13 1-2 6; Allison Summerset 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-82 5-10 76. The University of Scranton............. 43 41 - 84 Kean University............... 38 38 - 76 3-point goals-Univ. of Scranton 4-11 (Allison Matt 1-2; Julie Brophy 1-3; Taryn Mellody 1-4; Erin Healy 1-1; Tara Gemmel 0-1), Kean University 5-9 (Missy Magyar 2-2; Tahnisha Barge 1-3; Chi Clark 1-2; Shirley Fernandez 1-2). Fouled out--Univ. of Scranton-None, Kean University-None. Rebounds-Univ. of Scranton 38 (Michelle Fabio 6; Taryn Mellody 6; Kelly Lewandowski 6), Kean University 50 (Chari' Cooper 22). Assists-Univ. of Scranton 21 (Tara Gemmel 8), Kean University 16 (Missy Magyar 5). Total fouls-Univ. of Scranton 12, Kean University 17. A-183