SCRANTON, Pa. - After leading at halftime, Catholic women's basketball fell to No. 4 Scranton 55-47 on Saturday afternoon despite holding the Royals 15 points below their season average. The Cardinals (16-5, 7-3) took a 21-20 lead into the break before the Royals used an 18-10 third quarter to come away victorious and remain unbeaten. 

Senior forward Rachel Bussanich scored 13 points and pulled in nine rebounds in the contest while Erin Doherty added 10 off the bench for the Cardinals. 

The Catholic defense held Scranton to just 36 percent shooting (19-52), but the Royals made seven three-pointers and shot 83 percent from the foul line to help overcome the strong defensive pressure from the Cardinals. 

Trailing 7-4 in the first, Erin Thompson drained a triple to tie the contest with 2:43 to play before Bussanich followed with a three at the 1:59 mark to put Catholic on top 10-7. 

Leading 10-9 to start the second, Catholic ripped off a 6-0 run to take a 16-9 lead with 7:22 left in the half. Doherty scored the first bucket of the quarter and Kathryn Greenhut scored off of a feed from Sarah White to put the Cardinals up seven. Scranton scored the next four before Greenhut scored again off of a Doherty assist to make it 18-13 Cardinals with 3:25 remaining in the second. 

Scranton retook the lead with 40 seconds to play before halftime, but Keegan Douglas drained a three with 17 ticks left on the clock and Catholic entered the locker room in the lead. 

The Royals took an early lead in the third before another Douglas three had the Cardinals back in the lead with 5:39 to go in quarter number three. Doherty picked off a pass and finished the layup to make it 29-25 Catholic 10 seconds later. Doherty converted a layup at the 3:19 mark in the third to make the score 31-30 Catholic, but Scranton ended the period on an 8-0 run. 

Carly Mulvaney scored the first bucket of the fourth to get the Cards back within five, but Scranton pushed it to 10 with 6:12 to play. Bussanich hit a jump shot with 3:58 remaining to bring Catholic back within six, but that was the closest they would get. The Royals extended the lead to 12 late in the period before Doherty scored the final bucket of the game to make it 55-47. 

Scranton had three players in double figures led by Sam Rajza with 19. Today's loss is the first for the Cardinals away from Franny Murray Court this season. 

Catholic returns to action on Wednesday with another road contest against a ranked foe as they travel to Elizabethtown for a 6 p.m. tip.