SCRANTON, Pa. – The Drew University women's basketball team outscored undefeated and third-ranked University of Scranton 20-12 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough as the Royals handed the Rangers a 54-42 setback in Landmark Conference action Wednesday evening.
 
Senior guard Joey Meyers led the Rangers (15-7, 5-6 LC) with her 11th 20-point game of the season, finishing with 20 points to go with six rebounds and three steals. Freshman guard Madelyn Morgan added nine points while senior guard Katrina Wojtowicz posted eight points and seven rebounds.
 
Kace Kranson paced the Royals (22-0, 11-0), one of just three remaining undefeated teams in Division III, with 16 points and nine rebounds while Maddy Ryan totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Scranton never trailed after jumping out to a 14-4 lead. But Drew rallied to make it a four-point game on 3-pointer from Meyers with 49 seconds left before Kranson answered with a triple of her own at the buzzer, giving the hosts an 18-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Rangers twice pulled to within six in the second quarter, first on a 3 from Wojtowicz early in the period, then on a Meyers lay-up with 7:15 on the clock. However, Scranton scored the next eight points before the two sides hit a defensive standstill, as neither team scored in the last four minutes of the quarter. Drew held Scranton to just 26.7% shooting in the quarter but trailed 30-16 at the half.
 
Meyers scored the first points of the second half with lay-up that cut the gap to 12 with 8:40 on the clock. before the Royals broke the game open with a 12-0 run. Morgan converted a lay-up in the closing seconds to make it 44-22 heading into the final stanza.
 
Morgan stayed hot in the fourth quarter, scoring five points in the opening two minutes as Drew cut the gap to 44-29. Meyers completed a 9-2 Drew run with a lay-in that made it 44-31 with 7:06 remaining, but the Royals nudged their lead back up to 16 on two occasions, the last coming on a 3-pointer from Samantha Rajza that put the hosts up 50-34 with 5:04 left.
 
The Rangers would not go away quietly, however, and back-to-back layups from Wojtowicz and Meyers cut the deficit to 12 (50-38) with 2:57 left. Scranton scored the next four points, however, before Meyers scored two more baskets in the final 49 seconds to set the final score.
 
Drew returns to action on Saturday, when they host Goucher College at 2 p.m. on Senior Day in another Landmark Conference affair.