Scranton Women Hold Off Juniata In Overtime

SCRANTON, Pa.-The University of Scranton secured the number two seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament with a nail-biting 77-72 victory in overtime against Juniata College Saturday at the Long Center.

The victory moves the Lady Royals to 20-3 overall and 11-1 in the Landmark Conference. In addition, Scranton has now won at least 20 games in each of the last 19 seasons and 27 times in the program's 36-year history.

Junior guard Megan Kopecki (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) led Scranton by tying her career high with 29 points on 9 of 18 shooting and 9 of 9 from the free throw line. She also had eight rebounds, six steals, and six assists in 39 minutes of action.

After falling behind 57-55 with just over seven minutes remaining the Lady Royals went on a 11-4 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers by junior guard Jennifer King (Taylor, Pa./Riverside), who finished with 11 points, and senior guard Ryan Mooney (Spring City, Pa./Pius X), who had 16 points. The run was capped off by jumper by freshman guard Katherine Torto (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central).

But the Eagles, now 14-10 overall and 8-5 in the conference, battled back, cutting the lead to 66-65 off a 3-pointer from freshman guard Jordan Speck (Huntingdon, Pa./Southern Huntingdon), who finished with 11 points, and a foul shot by junior forward Erin McGinley (Ashland, Pa./Tri-Valley), who had nine points off the bench.

Four foul shots from King and senior center Molly Klusek (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll), who finished with five points, put the Royals up 70-65 with 1:28 remaining before Juniata junior forward Jen Hnatuck (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) cut the lead to 70-67. This set the stage for Eagle freshman forward Alyssia Gordon (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove), who hit the game-tying 3-pointer from deep in the left corner with just over six seconds remaining.

Scranton took the lead for good on a 3-pointer from Mooney with 4:01 remaining in the overtime period. The Eagles trailed by only one on a jump shot by sophomore guard Ashton Bankos (York, Pa./York Catholic) with 3:04 left before Kopecki converted a lay-up with 1:21 left and sealed it with two free throws with two seconds remaining following missed 3-pointers by freshman guard Paige Robertson (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) and Speck on the Eagles' final two possessions.

Three-point shooting was the key to Scranton's success in the second half. After going just 1 for 5 in the first half, the Lady Royals knocked down 6 for 9 in the final 25 minutes of play, with Mooney making three, King converting two, and Kopecki one.

The Lady Royals will play their final two games of the regular season on the road beginning this Tuesday, February 16, against Catholic University at the DuFour Center in Washington, DC, in a game rescheduled from Saturday, February 6. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. Scranton ends its regular season next Saturday, February 20, against league-leader Moravian College at Johnston Hall in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Story provided by Scranton Sports Information