Scranton Runs Past Moravian, 69-55, in Landmark Conference Opener

The University of Scranton women's basketball team opened the 2011-12 Landmark Conference season with a 69-55 win over visiting Moravian College Saturday afternoon.

The Greyhounds (1-4 overall, 0-1 Landmark) jumped out to a 4-0 lead on baskets from sophomore guard Katie O'Rourke and junior guard Amanda Kreuder. The Royals (3-3 overall, 1-0 Landmark) would get on the scoreboard at the 16:28 mark on a jumper by freshman guard Lindsay Flueher, and Scranton tied the game at 4-4 on a jumper by junior forward Erin Bogan. Kreuder added two more baskets as Moravian pushed the lead back to four points at 8-4, and the Greyhounds had a 12-8 lead after a jumper by sophomore forward Laura Jordan with 12:43 to go in the first half.

Junior guard Christina Hiltunen would give Scranton its first lead of the game, 14-12, on a three-point play with 10:41 before the intermission. Sophomore guard Alyssa Hann tied the game with a lay-up before the Royals moved back in front on a lay-up by senior forward Sarah Gage. Sophomore guard Alison Sweeney connected on a three-pointer at the 8:24 mark to put Scranton ahead 19-14.

Junior forward Erin Boggan had a steal and a lay-up to put Scranton on top 21-14 before Moravian freshman forward Alexis Wright hit a free throw to stop the Royals' 7-0 and cut the lead to 21-15 with 6:11 on the clock. Wright added a lay-up, and sophomore guard Danielle Brogan connected on a jumper to pull Moravian within two points at 21-19. Gage answered with a basket and two free throws to put Scranton back up by six points, 25-19, with 4:02 left in the first half.

Senior forward Alexandra Blair hit a lay-up for her first points of the game with 2:53 left in the first half to pull Moravian within four points at 27-23, and that would end up being the halftime score as neither school was able to score during the rest of the half.

Scranton connected on 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) field goal attempts, 1-of-8 three-pointers and 4-of-5 free throws in the opening in the 20 minutes, and the Royals had a 20-19 edge in rebounds. Scranton also had nine turnovers while forcing Moravian into 11 first half miscues. The Greyhounds were 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from the floor and 3-for-6 at the foul line in the first half, and Moravian missed all three of its three-pointer attempts in the opening half.

Boggan opened the second half with a jumper for the Royals, and Sweeney hit a jumper to give Scranton its largest lead of the game at 31-23. Junior forward Taylor Pallotta scored a lay-up on a fast break as the Royals pushed their advantage into double digits for the first time at 33-23 with 17:44 to go in the second half.

Moravian's first basket of the second half would come from Wright at the 17:18 mark to stop the 6-0 run by Scranton to start the half. Blair would add a three-point play to cut the Royals' edge to 35-28 but Pallotta added a basket, and Gage hit a lay-up to give Scranton a 39-28 advantage.
Blair added another three-point play for the Greyhounds at the 15:26 mark but Sweeney would hit on another three-pointer at 14:05 to give Scranton a 42-31 lead. Scranton's lead reached 12 points, 48-36, on a jumper by senior guard Sidney Jaques with 10:54 left in the second half. Blair answered with her third three-point play of the half to get the Royals' advantage back under ten points.

Hiltunen connected on a three-pointer as Scranton's lead went back into double figures before Boggan hit two free throws as the Royals took a 53-39 lead, their largest of the game with 7:30 remaining. Scranton would keep its lead in double figures for the rest of the contest.

In the second half, Scranton connected on 16-of-26 (61.5 percent) field goal attempts, 3-of-4 three-pointers and 7-of-9 free throws, and the Royals finished the game with a 41-37 advantage in rebounds while both squads had 19 turnovers in the game. Moravian struggled to shoot the ball in the final 20 minutes, making just 11-of-36 (30.6 percent) shots from the floor, 2-of-10 three-pointers and 8-of-10 free throw attempts.

Blair had her second double-double of the season to lead the Greyhounds with 13 points and a game high 15 rebounds to go along with three blocked shots and two assists. Blair's 15 rebounds gave her 510 for her career, the 17^th player in school history to reach 500 career rebounds. Kreuder tossed in ten points with two steals while Wright added nine points, five boards and a pair of assists for Moravian. O'Rourke and senior guard Hilary Murray each had six points with O'Rourke grabbing six rebounds while Brogan tossed in five points. Hann added four points, two assists and two steals for the Greyhounds.

Sweeney led Scranton with 15 points to go with five rebounds and three blocked shots while Boggan added 14 points, six assists, three boards and two blocked shots. Pallotta finished with nine points, all in the second half, and nine rebounds for the Royals while Gage and Hiltunen each tossed in eight points and grabbed four boards. Freshman forward Emma Hart had six points off of the Scranton bench.

Moravian will return to action on Sunday, December 4th when the squad hosts Cal Lutheran University in a non-conference game in Johnston Hall at 1:00 p.m.