Scranton, PA, (February 25, 2006) – The University of Scranton Lady Royals dominated the boards on Saturday evening leading it past DeSales University, 72-40, in the Freedom Conference Championship game at the Long Center in front of a capacity crowd.

 

        UofS (26-1) held a 57-22 edge on the boards, grabbing 24 offensive rebounds and totaling 18 second-chance points to easily handle DSU (16-11 overall) in the conference title game.  The loss is the second straight to the Lady Royals for the Bulldogs in the Freedom Conference championship game as they shot just 28.0 percent from the field for the game and hit just 52.9 percent of its free throws in the loss.

 

        Freshman LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) hit a three-pointer at the 10:03 mark of the first half to make it 17-11 before Scranton took control for good using a 15-3 run over the next eight minutes to make the score 32-14.

 

        Tournament Most Valuable Player, Taryn Mellody, started the game-changing spurt with a three and had seven points during the run while junior Tiffaney Williams and senior Kelly Lewandowski each had offensive put-backs during the outburst.  The lead stood at 18 points, 37-19, entering the locker rooms.

 

        A 7-0 Lady Royal run to start the second half pushed the advantage to 25 points, 44-19, and DSU never got any closer than 20 points the rest of the way.

 

        Junior Kirby Lutz (Easton, PA/Pen Argyl) was the lone Bulldog in double digits with 10 points, while freshmen Erica Sovak (Tuxedo, NY/George F. Baker) added seven points and Burke totaled eight in the loss.

 

        Mellody finished with 16 points on the strength of four three-pointers, junior Allison Matt added 11 points, junior Casey Thran led the charge off the bench with 12 points and Williams finished with a game-high of 11 rebounds, 10 off the offensive glass.