WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University women's basketball team fell to Scranton, 57-48, in the Landmark Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon.
It was a physical affair that saw No. 7 Scranton pull out a nine-point lead before the Cardinals could score. The Royals held No. 10 Catholic scoreless for over four minutes to start the game until Keegan Douglas hit a three to stop the run. Scranton continued to stymie the Cardinal offense, pulling out to a 15-4 lead and taking an 18-6 advantage to the quarter break.
After shooting 50 percent from the floor in quarter one, Scranton continued to shoot well in the second quarter, outscoring Catholic 16-10 in the second stanza to take a 34-16 lead into halftime.
The Cardinals pushed hard in the second half to produce a comeback but fell short. The deficit remained at 18 after the third quarter before Catholic cut it to 14 two minutes into the final quarter. Matt Donohue immediately used a timeout but Scranton responded with a Hannah Angelini lay-up and held the Cardinals scoreless for the next two-and-a-half minutes to put the game out of reach. The Cardinals worked hard until the final buzzer and got within nine late on but by then the result was beyond a doubt.
Scranton rode strong defense, especially in around the perimeter, to victory. Ben O'Brien's team held Catholic to just 27.4 percent from the field and a dismal 1-of-22 from deep in the contest.
Anna Scoblick logged another double-double, her sixth of the season. She matched Douglas with 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and rejected six shots while Sarah White forced four steals to push her into fourth on Catholic's all-time single season steals list with 84.
Maddie Hartnett led the way for Scranton with 20 points and five rebounds while Maddy Ryan secured a double-double of her own with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Hartnett was named the Landmark Conference Tournament MVP after her big performance.
This marks the eighth time in the last 11 seasons that the two teams have met in the championship game, with Scranton now emerging victorious in the last six. Catholic's last victory came in 2014-15 when the Cardinals downed the Royals 52-51.
Scranton earns the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament while Catholic is expected to join them courtesy of an at-large bid on the back of its impressive season-long resume. The Cardinals will have to wait until Monday at 2:30 p.m. for the NCAA Selection Show to learn their fate.
