Royals Prevent Gophers from Notching Third Straight Win

SCRANTON, Pa. — Goucher went into tonight's Landmark Conference game against Scranton riding its first two-game winning streak since the 2008-09 season, but the Gophers never had much of a chance at extending it to a third game as they fell behind 9-0 in the opening 3:45 and were dealt a 79-36 setback by the Royals.

A jumper by Shante Atkinson (Millersville, Md./Old Mill) snapped Scranton's early nine-point run, getting head coach Didi Cotton's Gophers on the scoreboard for the first time after 4:15 had run off the clock. But the Royals (7-6, 2-0 Landmark) established their first double-digit lead of the contest less than two minutes later when a layup by Lia DiSciascio made the score 14-4.

The Gophers (3-9, 0-2 Landmark) trailed 39-16 after 20 minutes.

Elizabeth von Ende (Leawood, Kan./American Hebrew Academy) finished as Goucher's leading scorer in the game, reaching her total of nine points by making three shots from 3-point distance. Precious Kollock (Baltimore, Md./Patapsco) supplied the Gophers with six points.

The Royals (7-6, 2-0 Landmark), who improved to 9-0 against the Gophers since the formation of the Landmark Conference, had three double-digit scorers in Alison Sweeney, Tayler Pallotta and Raychel Shannon. Sweeney was 4-for-7 on 3-point attempts as she contributed 14 points to the victory, while Pallotta and Shannon chipped in with 10 points apiece.

The Gophers were guilty of 28 turnovers, which the Royals turned into 35 points. Scranton was also able to convert 25 offensive rebounds into 26 second-chance points.