Gophers Can't Hang On to Early Leads, Bow to Royals

TOWSON, Md. — The first three shots Goucher made in tonight's Landmark Conference game against Scranton all gave the Gophers the lead.

By the time Goucher's next shot went in, however, the Royals had opened up an 18-7 advantage and were on their way to a 74-47 victory.

India Perkins (Brentwood, Md./Bladensburg) opened the scoring with a mid-range jumper on Goucher's first possession. After Scranton tied the score, Briana Bull (Baltimore, Md./Owings Mills) put the Gophers ahead again by turning a steal into two points.

The Royals (22-2, 14-1 Landmark) went ahead for the first time on a made 3-point basket by Lindsay Fluehr, but another layup by Bull had the home team back in the lead at 6-5 barely two minutes into the contest.

But after Bull's second basket, the Gophers (4-18, 0-14 Landmark) wouldn't make another field goal for a period of almost eight minutes. During a 13-1 run by the Royals that put them up by 11, head coach Didi Cotton's squad went 0-for-5 from the field, missed a free throw and committed three turnovers.

Scranton's lead would grow to as many as 18 points in the first half and by halftime, Goucher trailed 38-23.

Twice in the second half the Gophers fell behind by 30 points.

The leading scorer for each team finished with 18 points. For Goucher, that was Bull, who now has 52 points in her last three games.

For Scranton, it was Meredith Mesaris, who had supplied the Royals with at least 20 points in six consecutive games.

The Gophers are down to the final two games of the season and they'll play at home for the final time in 2014-15 on Wednesday against Susquehanna, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.