SCRANTON, Pa.  — The 16th ranked Catholic women's basketball team traveled to Scranton to take on the third ranked Royals who came in unbeaten on the season and the second ranked opponent the Cardinals faced on the year. The Royals opened up the third quarter on a run that opened up an 18 points lead that was insurmountable for the Cardinals, leading to a 77-55 Scranton win, dropping the Cardinals to 13-2 on the season.

The team's traded buckets back and forth in the opening minutes and were all tied at six after Keegan Douglas put up four early points. The Royals then went on an 8-0 run to capture control, spurred by back-to-back three's from Maddie Hartnett. Scranton made life difficult for Catholic on the offensive end in the quarter, holding them to just 4-for-14 from the field to take a 17-8 lead into the second.

After going down 30-18 in the second quarter, the Cardinals were able to cut the deficit down to single digits going into the break after Carly Mulvaney knocked down a pair of free throws and Amelia Kennedy buried a three. Kennedy led the offense for Catholic in the first half scoring nine points to keep the team in it at 32-23.

Scranton came out of the gates strong in the third quarter with Meghan Lamanna and Kaci Kranson knocking down three's to spark an 8-0 run that opened up a 17 point lead for the Royals. The Cardinals got the deficit back down to 10 after Anna Scoblick and Douglas came up with six and five points respectively at 42-32 with six minutes remaining in the quarter. The Royals kept the pressure on however and grew the lead all the way back up to 18 heading into the fourth. Despite shooting 8-for-13 as a team in the final quarter, the Cardinals were unable to overcome the Royals lead and fell 77-55 for their first road loss of the season. 

Kennedy was solid on the offensive end for Catholic and led the team with 14 points while shooting 6-for-8 from the field. It was the first time she has scored double-digit points in back-to-back games in her career. Douglas also finished with double-digit points with 13 and Scoblick and Mulvaney each dropped 8. Sam Blumenthal added four points off the bench and pulled down a career-high seven rebounds.

Next up for the Cardinals is another road contest in Landmark play as they head to Towson to take on Goucher. Tip off is set for 6 pm on Wednesday, January 22 at the Decker Sports & Recreation Center Area.