WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The 17th ranked Catholic women's basketball team traveled up to Elizabethtown on Wednesday night with the intention of avenging the loss it took against the Blue Jays at home earlier in the season. The Cardinals hit key shots down the stretch in the fourth quarter and stymied the Blue Jays at points in the game on the defensive end to close out a key 70-63 win to pull back even with Elizabethtown in the conference standings at 11-2 in conference play.

The teams traded baskets back and forth throughout the entirety of the opening quarter with no team leading by more than five throughout the frame. Anna Scoblick found her footing early on the offensive end, dropping eight points in the first while going 4-for-5 from the field. Sam Blumenthal provided a nice spark off the bench with four points and Keegan Douglas drained a three as time expired in the quarter to give Catholic a 20-17 lead heading into the second quarter. 

The struggles on offense came for Elizabethtown in the second quarter as they shot just 1-for-14 from the field (7%) for the entire quarter, while also going 0-for-5 from deep. Catholic used this as an opportunity to open up a slight lead going into the break with Kerry Flaherty leading the charge, knocking down a triple with 24 seconds left to go in the half to open up a 33-24 lead. Makenna Mummert beat the horn on a layup to trim the deficit to seven going into halftime. Flaherty went into the break with 10 points and a pair of threes.

Both teams played their best offensive quarter in the third as the Blue Jays shot 73% (11-for-15), to make up for the woes in the second quarter, and the Cardinals shot 50% (8-for-16). After Carly Mulvaney scored on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back up to nine, Elizabethtown went on an 11-3 run to pull back within a single possession at two. Amelia Kennedy sunk a free throw to close out the quarter and Catholic took a 53-50 into the final quarter.

With the game in the balance, the Cardinals knocked down multiple clutch shots over a five minute stretch in the fourth, started off by another Blumenthal bucket. Catholic went on a 12-4 run in that time span and saw both Douglas and Alexa Kenah bury clutch triples to give the team a 66-57 lead with just 3:08 remaining in regulation. Catholic held off any comeback attempt from Elizabethtown and knocked down free throws when needed to close out a 70-63 win to get to 18-2 on the season and 11-2 in Landmark play. The Cardinals have won at Thompson Gymnasium for back-to-back seasons for the first time since they did so in the 2015-16/2016-17 seasons.

Scoblick led the scoring efforts for the Cardinals with 21 (8-for-15) while also pulling down six rebounds and adding four assists. This marks the fourth 20+ point game for her this season and the sixth for her career. Flaherty came in behind her with 13 points while Douglas and Mulvaney each added 11. Mulvaney also contributed with seven rebounds and five steals. Blumenthal scored eight points again, making it back-to-back games with her career-high in points.

This marks Catholic's second win over a d3hoops.com top 25 team this year as the Blue Jays came into the contest at No. 18 in the poll. The win joins the Cardinals victory over No. 25 Messiah on December 29.

The Cardinals have another big conference game coming up this weekend at home against No. 3 Scranton. Tip off is set for 2 pm at Franny Murray Court on Saturday, February 8 and will be a White Out game.