Lady Royals Take Seventh Consecutive Landmark Title

By: Luke Shannon | Staff Writer

The Scranton women’s basketball continued its Landmark Conference dominance in a narrow win over the Catholic Cardinals Saturday.

The 56-55 win vaulted the Royals to their seventh consecutive, and ninth total, Landmark championship.

The Royals were clicking early, scoring nine unanswered points to start the game. With a 41-28 lead after three, it seemed that the Royals had their championship all but locked up. However, the Cardinals refused to go down easy, streaking for eight points late in the fourth quarter to get within three. From there, the only point was scored on a free throw by junior Emily Shurina that all but iced the game with 12 seconds remaining.

Freshman Maddie Hartnett (16 points) and sophomore Bridget Monahan (12) led a balanced scoring attack for the Royals, while Junior McCurdy led the team in assists (5) and blocks (3), while pulling down seven rebounds.

As for the Cardinals, junior Amanda Johnson (18) and sophomore Erin Doherty (21) scored 39 of the team’s 55 points and combined for 21 in a relentless fourth quarter effort.

After the game, Hartnett was named Landmark Conference Tournament MVP, providing another highlight to an abbreviated, yet successful, season for the 7-1 Royals.