SCRANTON, Pa. — In a game that was tight throughout, No. 8 Catholic ultimately fell to No. 13 Scranton in the John Long Center on Saturday afternoon, snapping Catholic's program-record 20 game win streak.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well throughout the entirety of the game but a second-quarter run and some timely late makes from Scranton was just enough to see off the Cardinals.

It took both teams a while to get going, knotting up at 4-4 four minutes into the contest. Both outfits continued to exchange baskets to the effect of a 13-12 Scranton lead after one quarter of play.

It was the second stanza that proved to be detrimental to the Cardinals and ultimately proved decisive for the Royals. After Keegan Douglas knocked down a driving layup on Catholic's first offensive possession of the quarter, the Royals went on a quickfire 11-0 run to pull out to a 10-point lead. Catholic was able to stop the bleeding but Scranton continued to execute on offense until halftime to take a nine-point advantage to the break.

Matt Donohue's team came out of the locker room energized and made a real run at the Scranton lead early in the third stanza. Catholic began the second half on a 12-4 run as a Tori Fernandez layup with three-and-a-half minutes remaining pulled the Cardinals within one. Scranton coach Ben O'Brien used what proved to be a good timeout before the Royals put together a 7-1 run of their own to end the quarter and push the lead back to seven.

The game of runs continued in the final quarter as Catholic again got within one when Douglas finished in transition with just over six minutes remaining. Scranton responded brilliantly though with a 7-0 run, capped off by a massive three-pointer by Hannah Angelini to log her only points of the contest.

Catholic made another push when Anna Scoblick immediately hit back with a tough finish at the rim, scoring and drawing the foul to stop the clock. After she was unable to convert on the free-throw attempt, back-to-back baskets from Douglas were sandwiched by a single Scranton made free throw. This 6-1 Cardinal run cut the Royal lead to three with 64 seconds left.

The Cardinals played sound defense for over 20 seconds on the next possession but Kaci Kranson was able to track down her own miss following a three-point attempt. After a Catholic foul gave Scranton a partial reset of the shot clock, the Cardinals came very close to forcing the turnover they needed. Sarah White got a hand on a pass and was able to tie up a Royal to force a jump ball, but the possession arrow kept it with Scranton with only five seconds remaining on the shot clock. The Royals drove immediately to the hoop following the inbound where a blocking foul was called on Scoblick with 12 seconds remaining, sending Scranton to the line to effectively ice the game.

The game was won by Scranton on the glass and at both three-point lines. The Royals dominated the boards, outrebounding the Cardinals 47-22, matching Catholic's grand total with 22 solely on the offensive side of the floor. The Royal duo of Maddy Ryan and Kranson combined to outrebound the Cardinals with 26 boards.

Scranton shot just 30 percent from the field but were able to cash in on seven threes to shoot 33 percent from deep. Catholic, on the other hand, shot 40 percent from the field but shot a dismal 2-for-18 from three-point land. The Cardinals also shot just 5-of-13 from the free-throw line while Scranton went 13-of-19 from the charity strip.

Even with the loss, Catholic remains in pole possession to secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference Tournament. With four games remaining, if the Cardinals win out, they will be the top seed, securing a first-round bye and home court throughout. 

Catholic will look to respond as it returns home for a midweek battle with Juniata. Tip-off in the DuFour Center is set for 6 p.m.