It has been a whirlwind couple of days for the University of Scranton women’s basketball team.
Congratulatory messages and reaction on social media to the Division III Lady Royals upsetting Division I University of Pittsburgh on Sunday, 69-63, have been nonstop.
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“It’s been unbelievable how many people have reached out to congratulate our team, our athletic department and our university,” coach Ben O’Brien said. “Just very, very proud of our players, our coaching staff and administration — everyone that played a hand in helping us get this game in the first place.”
Among the more notable messages O’Brien received were from university president Fr. Joseph Marina, S.J., and athletic director Dave Martin.
“Usually after a game, if the president of the university or the athletic director call you, it means something big has happened,” O’Brien said. “Certainly those two stand out to me. Hearing from Father Marina and Dave Martin were just terrific things. They support our players so much and do so many things to help our program. It was great to hear from those two especially.”
Scranton built a 37-27 halftime lead, but Pitt used a 23-7 third quarter to take a 50-44 lead. However, with freshman and Dunmore graduate Sophia Talutto scoring eight points and Katie Gorski, Elizabeth Bennett and Meghan Lamanna each scoring five points, the Lady Royals outscored the Panthers in the fourth quarter, 25-7, to pull off the upset.
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Bennett finished with 15 points. Talutto added 14 points, while Gorski and Lamanna scored 11 points apiece. Gorski also grabbed 10 rebounds.
“We jumped up on them early and able to get out in front,” O’Brien said. “They made a really good run at us in the third quarter, but our players did not fold. They responded and saved their best for last. They played their best quarter in the fourth quarter and that really was the difference in the game.”
O’Brien called the trip home “the fastest five-hour bus ride of my life.”
“It’s been a great experience, one that the players and coaches will never forget,” he said. “Hopefully we can use all the lessons that we learned in that game moving forward to that our best basketball is yet to come.”
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While the loss counts against Pitt’s record — the Panthers are 2-2 — the win doesn’t not count toward Scranton’s record.
Now, the Lady Royals (3-0) will guard against a letdown as they open Landmark Conference play Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Drew University. The Lady Rangers are off to a 2-1 start, having defeated Rutgers-Camden, 71-57, and Rutgers-Newark, 91-45, but losing to Franklin & Marshall, 67-62. Scranton then hosts Goucher College (3-0) on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Tufts University (1-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Tufts is coached by former Scranton standout Meredith Mesaris.
“At practice Monday, our sole focus was getting better and focusing on Drew,” O’Brien said. “Just putting all of our physical and mental energy into the next task at hand. We spent a lot of time talking to our players about that. Everything we’re talking about now involves Drew. Pitt was a great experience, but that is now in the past for us.”
As for the Scranton men, they also are off to a 3-0 start and open Landmark play Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the John Long Center against Drew. The Rangers, defending league champion, is also 3-0 and coached by Ryan Van Zeist in his first season. Van Zeist spent seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Royals (2016-22).
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Junior and Valley View graduate Eli Yusavage is a returning starter for Drew. He averaged 16.0 points in the Rangers’ first two wins over Centenary and The College of New Jersey, but he did not play in the victory over Rowan University.
