The University of Scranton women’s basketball team is off to a 2-0 start after two significantly different games in the last three days.
The Lady Royals opened with a short “road trip” Thursday night by pounding a struggling local rival, topping Marywood, 98-32.
Scranton played its home opener Saturday night and won a regional battle of frequent National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III tournament teams, 74-68, over visiting DeSales University.
The Lady Royals have been led out of the gate by a prominent new addition and their top returnee.
Holy Cross High School graduate Abby Anderson, a graduate student using her final year of eligibility after three seasons at St. Francis Brooklyn, and Bridget Monaghan, a second-team, preseason, All-American selection, have joined forces in the 2-0 start.
Anderson returned from more than 19 months off from competition to score 12 points in the first quarter Opening Night.
Monaghan went 8-for-12 on 3-pointers and poured in 30 points Saturday night while Anderson was adding 21 points.
Scranton, the defending Landmark Conference champion, entered the season ranked 12th nationally by D3hoops.com, while DeSales came in at No. 9.
Anderson’s shooting was not as sharp as in the opener, but she did contribute five rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots while going 7-for-18 from the floor, including 1-for-7 on 3-pointers.
Emily Shurina had 9 points and 10 rebounds.
On a night when both teams relied heavily on their starting lineups, Kyra Quigley did provide four points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists for the Lady Royals while coming off the bench.
Lindsey Welsh, a sophomore guard from Old Forge, came off the DeSales bench. She played 20 minutes and hit all four of her free throws while finishing with four points, two rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
The game was the season opener for DeSales, the unbeaten champion of the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom last season and the unanimous favorite in a preseason coaches’ poll.
Scranton overcame an 8-0 start by DeSales to move in front, 25-23, after one quarter.
Both teams shot well from long distance. DeSales was 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) while Scranton was 13-for-30 (43.3 percent).
Scranton dominated on the boards, winning the rebounding battle, 48-27.
Anderson and Monaghan combined for 9-for-14 on 3-pointer shooting and 37 points Thursday against Marywood on a night when coach Nick DiPillo used 15 players and no one saw more than 21 minutes playing time.
Anderson made the most of her 17 minutes, going 9-for-12 from the floor, including 4-for-6 on 3-pointers while scoring 22 points and grabbing 5 rebounds.
Monaghan added 15 points and Shurina had 13.
Mackenzie Steele, a reserve sophomore center from Susquehanna, has missed the first two games with an injury.
The loss to Scranton was the second straight by Marywood, which bounced back Saturday afternoon to pick up its first win in its return to action after sitting out all of 2020-21 because of COVID concerns.
The Pacers defeated FDU-Florham, 51-48, after losing to Lebanon Valley, 61-35, then Scranton to begin the season.
Marywood’s roster includes Savannah Purdy, an experienced starting guard from Lake-Lehman; Bethany Maby, a starting guard from Susquehanna; Faith Kendricks, a freshman from Valley View; and Julianna Beidler, a Marywood softball player from West Scranton who has joined the program to give the team a 10-player roster.
Stephanie Klemick had 14 points and 4 blocked shots while Purdy had 10 points and 2 steals in the win over FDU-Florham.
Maby and Kendricks each hit two of the team’s five 3-pointers. Maby had six points, eight rebounds and three assists. Kendricks went 2-for-2 from long distance while coming off the bench to add eight points.
Marywood trailed by three after three quarters, but used a late six-point streak to take a 50-46 lead.
Jade Rolon scored 11 points, Purdy added 8 points and Maby contributed 5 points and a team-high 5 rebounds against Scranton.
Kendricks is 4-for-7 to lead the team in 3-point shooting. Beidler has two rebounds in two appearances.
