Junior guard Taryn Mellody turned it up a notch in the second-half again to lift The University of Scranton to an 80-59 victory over Drew University in Freedom Conference action Saturday afternoon at Baldwin Gymnasium.
Mellody, who scored 19 of her team-high 25 points in the second-half of last Wednesday’s 85-60 win over Delaware Valley, tossed in 12 of her game-high 19 points in the final 20 minutes of play as the 2nd-ranked Lady Royals won their 16th straight game to improve to 18-1 overall and 8-0 in the Freedom Conference. Scranton also got a big lift off the bench from sophomore guard Julie Brophy, who finished with 14 points, and junior forward Casey Thran, who had a season-high 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds.
Drew University, now 9-9 overall and 4-4 in the Freedom Conference, was led by Courtney Cunningham with 17 points and Melissa Kraft and Maggie Marquis added 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Brophy started a 19-4 run with a 3-pointer and a jump shot as the Lady Royals extended an early 15-10 lead to 33-14 with seven minutes remaining in the first-half. Scranton shot 45.7 percent from the field to settle for a 39-26 lead at intermission.
The Rangers closed to within 10, 53-43, with nine minutes remaining in the second-half before Lady Royal junior forward Tammy Waiters hit a jump shot and Mellody followed with a 3-pointer to give Scranton a 58-43 advantage with 7:25 left. After Drew closed to within 13, Mellody buried a 3-pointer and a layup to push the Lady Royals’ lead to 18, 67-49, with less than five minutes remaining. Drew got no closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
Mellody’s 19 points moved her ahead of Katie Dougherty (1,119 points; 2000-2004) for 16th-place on the Lady Royals’ all-time scoring list. Mellody now has 1,136 points in 81 career games.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (18-1, 8-0 Freedom) Taryn Mellody 7-12 2-2 19; Julie Brophy 6-11 0-0 14; Casey Thran 5-11 1-2 11; Allison Matt 3-8 0-0 8; Tiffaney Williams 3-3 1-3 7; Kelly Lewandowski 2-5 3-3 7; Michelle Fabio 2-3 0-0 4; Kathleen Daly 1-4 2-2 4; Tammy Waiters 1-3 0-0 2; Molly Klusek 1-2 0-1 2; Stephanie Remington 1-5 0-0 2; Erin Healy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-68 9-13 80. DREW UNIVERSITY (9-9, 4-4 Freedom) Courtney Cunningham 6-20 5-5 17; Melissa Kraft 6-16 2-2 16; Maggie Marquis 4-13 3-5 11; Laura Methvin 3-7 2-2 8; Ann Mularz 1-2 2-2 4; Genie Valantassis 1-4 1-2 3; Kathleen Foster 0-1 0-0 0; Kaitlyn Campi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-63 15-18 59. The University of Scranton............... 39 41 - 80 Drew University....... 26 33 - 59 3-point goals-Scranton Royals 7-24 (Taryn Mellody 3-7; Julie Brophy 2-7; Allison Matt 2-5; Stephanie Remington 0-3; Erin Healy 0-1; Casey Thran 0-1), Drew University Rangers 2-17 (Melissa Kraft 2-8; Maggie Marquis 0-1; Kathleen Foster 0-1; Courtney Cunningham 0-7). Fouled out--Scranton Royals-None, Drew University Rangers-None. Rebounds-Scranton Royals 48 (Kelly Lewandowski 8; Tiffaney Williams 8), Drew University Rangers 34(Courtney Cunningham 8; Maggie Marquis 8). Assists-Scranton Royals 19 (Allison Matt 5), Drew University Rangers 8 (Courtney Cunningham 4). Total fouls-Scranton Royals 14, Drew University Rangers 13. A-150