After a long regular season, one of theFor some, this was the most anticipatedawaited games on the Landmark Conference schedule finally arrived. Two teams in the top 25 in the nation, battling for playoff implications, hoping to end their season with a win entered Thompson Gymnasium on Feb. 22. on top. Scranton University entered the game undefeated, with an impressive 23-0 record, and ranked #2 on d3hoops.com’s power rankings. Elizabethtown had two things on their mind heading into this game, to defeat a seemingly unstoppable team and getting a win toto win and gain a first-round bye in the Landmark Championships in the upcoming week. The Royals had bested Etown in their first game of the series, handing the Blue Jays their first conference loss of the season with a score of 82-57. As the Thompson Gymnasium filled with 500 people strong, it was time for tipoff.
The gym roared with the Blue Jay and Royal faithful as Etown jumped out to a hot start, beginning the game with a 9-2 run led by senior guard Summer McNulty. The Royals had trouble shooting early, however, they got themselves multiple second-chance opportunities from crashing the rebounds on the offensive end of the floor. Scranton began to gain some momentum, getting a steal and forcing shots at the end of the shot clock to claw back at the end of the first quarter to narrow the lead to two.
Scranton carried their rhythm into the second quarter, grabbing their first lead of the game with a three-pointer by junior guard Kaci Kranson. McNulty kept the Blue Jays in the game, draining two straight three-pointers. Etown was shooting extremely well from outside the arc, with McNulty highlighting the first-half shooting performance on a knocking down 75% of her three-pointers percentage in the second quarter alone. Etown had the chance to take the lead at the half, however, a tough shot couldn’t go and the game was tied at 32-all heading into the second half of play. Etown was playing extremely fast and competitively, however, everything that went well for the Blue Jays, Scranton seemed to have an answer to every possession, showing both teams’ strengths as programs.
Both teams out of the half were very defensive, with the first points coming from the free throw line three minutes into the third quarter. Etown didn’t let their foot off the gas from the surge in the previous quarter, going on a 15-1 run out of the half and taking a huge lead. Scranton battled back to reduce the lead down to 11 points at the end of the third, however, Etown cemented themselves as a dominant team, pouring on the points on an extremely talented defensive team.
Scranton wasn’t done yet, coming out of the huddle and crushing the double-digit lead to two points, as graduate guard Maddie Hartnett added five points in two minutes for the Royals. Etown took over the tempo of the game, adjusting the pace, and went on an 8-0 run to halt the progress Scranton made in making their fourth-quarter comeback. A few costly turnovers by the Blue Jays gave Scranton a chance to claw back, reducing the lead to only three with less than two minutes to go. The Royals began fouling with around a minute to go and as graduate forward Jess King sank both of her free throws with eight seconds to go to bring the lead to six, Etown had become the first team to beat Scranton in regular season play since Catholic University a year ago on Jan. 12, 2024 in overtime. The only other team to defeat Scranton in conference play during the past two seasons is Elizabethtown College.
McNulty finished with the game-high in points, leading the Blue Jays with 24 points on 60% shooting from the floor and 80% shooting from three-pointers. Junior forward Allyia Kennedy tacked on 15 points off the bench, shooting 6/9 from the floor while adding eight rebounds and three blocks. For the Royals, Kranson led the team with 21 points, with junior guard Kaeli Romanowski adding 14 points and six rebounds in her minutes-shortened game due to fouling out in the fourth.
Etown has reached another postseason appearance and has the bye for their first round. The Blue Jays will square off against the winner of the matchup between Catholic University and Goucher University on Feb. 27. The Landmark Championship game will take place on March. 1 at the highest remaining seed’s gymnasium.
