Scranton dropped a nail-bitter to Hope 59-56.....Ironically enough Hope resembled one of Coach Strong's typical teams, smaller, very quick, three-point shooting team and his new style team, half court style, bigger team unfortunately couldn't handle it.  Scranton never got into a groove, scoring in spurts.  In the first half it was the second team who carried Scranton keeping them down by one at the half.  In the second half it was Taryn Mellody who came alive to carry Scranton offensively.  However, there was one point in the second half when Hope could not miss from beyond the arc.  They were even up 13 with 12 minutes left in the game.  Scranton came back, but could never overcome that "hump" to put themselves ahead.  Hats off to Scranton seniors Erin Healy and Kelly Lewandowski who literally sweat blood out on the court.  An amazing four years for these two players.  And lets not forget what an amazing season the Lady Royals have had this year.  And will no doubt have next year.  Congratulations ladies!!! Good luck tomorrow!!!

Congratulations to Coach Strong and Taryn Mellody for repeating as Freedom Conference Coach of the year and Freedom Conference Player of the Year, respectively.  Also, to Allison Matt for being named to the Freedom Conference First Team All-Stars.  Could possibly make a case for Matt and Mellody to receive Co-Player of the Year in the conference because although Mellody is the leading scorer and offensive threat, Matt is what makes the lady royals run game in and game out, doing whatever it takes to make them win, whether it be scoring, defense, giving the ball to the open player (most of the time Mellody).  They are really a dominating 1-2 combination in the backcourt and I can't wait to see them tear up the post-season, both in the conference and nationally.  Congratulations to all the rest of the Freedom Conference as well and good luck to the rest of the teams in the post-season!!....

1st Team
Taryn Mellody- Scranton
Allison Matt- Scranton
Courtney Cunningham- Drew
Beth Jordan- Kings
Melissa Kraft- Drew

2nd Team
Kirby Lutz- DeSales
Rachel Joyce- DelVal
LeighAnn Burke- DeSales
Rena Bolin- Wilkes
Ashley Flaherty- FDU

Coach of the Year- Mike Strong, Scranton
Player of the Year- Taryn Mellody, Scranton
Rookie of the Year- LeighAnn Burke, DeSales

Kate, I agree with you.  At some point, Coach Strong has to get his top players used to playing 25 plus minutes a game.  It is great that they are going to be well rested for the dance, having played about 20 plus minutes a game.  However, this could also backfire for you as they might not be used to playing so long in a game, thus being slightly deconditioned.  Not to mention not used to playing in close game situations.  However, I know the Lady Royals and I know Coach Strong, they are well conditioned in practice, and they play hard in practice.  So, when Coach Strong puts two minutes on the clock  and puts one team down by ten, they take this situation seriously and they play hard, all around.  That being said, I'm still happy to see that Coach is starting to get a "regular" rotation with the girls cause that means that Selection Sunday is near, and I can't wait!! Go Lady Royals!!!

Roy, Saratoga, I agree with the predictions, however, with the expansion of the NCAA tournament this year, there is a slim possibility of Scranton getting a first round bye this year....If I'm not mistaken the D3 womens tournament is expanding to 63 teams this year leaving only room for one team to have a first round bye.....So, the first round bye is going to be tight.  Not saying the Lady Royals aren't going to get it, being number 2 in the country right now and most likely staying there if not moving up in the rankings before the end of the regular season, but I'm just saying not to count on it like we used to in previous years.  I also heard through the grapevine that the NCAA selection committee is going to move away from regional rankings when determining seeds and brackets this year and look towards the national rankings.  This will be great for the DIII national tournament because as many of you know, the #1 and #2 teams in the country have faced off far too many times in the sectional championship instead of at the final four.  Therefore, it would make for a more evenly matched, and therefore, more exciting DIII tourney.  This would therefore give the Lady Royals a number 1 seed in their bracket AND another shot at hosting a sectional despite it being an "off" year in terms of hosting. .....Can't wait for selection sunday and march madness to begin.....GO LADY ROYALS!!

It was great to see the amount of alumni who showed up for Scranton's annual Women's Basketball Alumni weekend.  Got a chance to catch the end of the alumni game and it was great to see past greats like Kate Pierangeli, Lisa Harris, AnneMarie Russo, Tara Gemmel, to name a few, re-lace their sneaks and get out on the court for a game of competitive pick up.  From what I hear they played for about two hours and it didn't look like age did much to their game....They all looked like they could throw on a purple uniform and fit right back into the swing of things.  Once again this is proof of what a great program Coach Strong has built.  How many programs have a bunch of alumni who come back year after year to play and than support Lady Royals that they haven't even played with.  The Long Center was definitely beaming with Purple Pride on Saturday as the 1976 Mens National Championship team (which Coach Strong was an asst. coach for) was honored.  Scranton, specifically Strong's Lady Royals, really have a wonderful program, not only because they are so good year in and year out, but more importantly the friendships and comraderie that are formed between the teammates year in and year out is really something special.  I had a chance to catch up with some of the alumni and it seems they all keep in touch with each other on a regular basis.  Forming life-long friendships is what playing this sport is really all about.  I only hope that the other programs in the MAC have this same bond that alll the Lady Royals seem to have.  With that said....GO LADY ROYALS!!

Saratoga, remember that Taryn is only a junior....Only time will tell how many career points she will end up with.  As for only averaging 22 minutes a game....well, that's how Coach Strong keeps his players "fresh"...If she averaged 30-35 minutes a game, there is always the possibility of burning out come March Madness, the most important part of the season.  It's also the reason she is able to bury the NBA range three pointer at the end of the Elite 8 game to put the  Lady Royals ahead and send them to the final four, instead of front rimming the shot due to dead legs...Hopefully this year, it will be that NBA range three pointer sealing the national championship....Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself and of course you know all this already, but for those who don't, this is why Scranton is so successful....They have ten players with "fresh" legs who can come in and burn a team on any given night....Go Lady Royals!!!

Looks like Scranton had a good first effort in Vegas....Congrats to Julie Brophy who had a career night.....19 points on 7-14 shooting, 3-6 from beyond the arc...This kid reminds me of Jaime Eilbacher, Class of 2001...both are great shooters from beyond the arc, however, I think Julie is a bit more athletic than Jaime was....Anyway, it's nice to see someone come off the bench and score a bunch of points for the Lady Royals.  More proof at how deep the Lady Royals are. 

Big game tomorrow night for the Lady Royals....They are actually going into the game as the underdogs, facing #6 Baldwin-Wallace.  Should be a good test for the girls since they are used to being the hunted and not the hunter.  Also, Taryn Mellody is 13 points away from 1,000.  Too bad the game is in Vegas, this is a March Madness type game in the middle of December.  Oh well....Good Luck to the Lady Royals!! and Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Saratoga, I agree.....I  think Coach Strong needs to make very clear what each individual's role on this team is in order for this team to be successful and subbing "hockey style" just isn't going to do that.  Actually, this style of subbing leads me to believe that Coach Strong himself doesn't know what each individual's role on the team is just yet, and at 7 games into the season (1/4 way through mind you), I think he better figure it out.  Like you said, the bullseye is just going to keep getting bigger as the season progresses, esp. into conference play.  If the coach doesn't know the players' roles, how do you expect the players' to know their roles and fill their roles/do their job, each and every game, esp. the big games??? Without a doubt, Taryn and Ali are the go-to players as far as shooters go.  Come crunch time the ball needs to be in one of their hands, afterall lets face it, they led the team to the final four last year as sophomores (a team in which everyone knew and fulfilled their roles very well).  Coach Strong needs to respect that.  However, I see no one in the post stepping up (maybe Coach Strong isn't giving them the chance to step up by his erratic sub patterns, not letting the girls get comfortable in the game before taking them out???).  Someone needs to be a presence in the post in order to allow the perimeter to open up for Taryn and Ali.  Last year seniors Tara Gemmel, Eileen Webster and Maura Kane did a great job of that.  From what I can see, no one has stepped up to replace them.  This is definitely going to become a factor down the stretch, as it is easier to defend a team with just shooters scoring than a team with both shooters and a post presence/slash-type player.  It may be early in the season, but the season as always is passing quickly and these issues need to be addressed if Scranton expects to be successful.

Scranton beat Moravian by about three.....forget the exact score......but Moravian did a great job hanging in there.....Scranton committed a number of unnecessary fouls, sending Moravian to the line one too many times and therefore, letting them stay in the game.  As much as I'm a Lady Royal fan, I have to give credit to Moravian for exposing Scranton's one weakness.....they're post game......Williams, Fabio, Daly, Lewandowski could not handle Moravian's  Kelly Applegate who finished with game highs in pts (22) and boards (17).  Hat's off to Moravian for keeping Scranton's All-American in check....Mellody missed another two free throws and I believe was held to about ten points, if not less than ten points....But she's still awesome in my book

However, as always, Scranton's bench play prevails.....Matt and Remington were the stars in this one making some key shots/plays for Scranton.....Anyway, nice win ladies....On to the Diversified Invitational this weekend....Go Lady Royals!!!

Great win by the Lady Royals....they needed it....Put a good team like Drew away early and never let them back in...and  made a statement to the rest of the league (that they're the team to beat) by taking apart what could be the #2 team in the league (at least one of the top four as far as I can see)......great job ladies!!!

Now lets talk about the rest of the league.....Drew upsetting DeSales, DelVal beating Kings (congrats Kate).....Seems like the number 1 spot may be locked up by the Lady Royals, but the numbers 2,3,4 could be WIDE open.....esp. for some new teams to slip in there....should be an interesting conference run.....

Hi everyone!! Long time bball fan here, esp. D-3, specifically the MAC and Lady Royals....love reading the posts, so now I've decided to write some.....

Drew vs. Scranton this weekend at the Long Center.....could be the toughest competition the Lady Royals have in the conference......Drew can be pesky......and they are confident, a dangerous combination.....any thoughts??