SCRANTON, Pa. (November 27, 2023) - Sophomore and MAC Freedom Player of the Week Leyla Castro scored 20 points and added two assists, but it wasn't enough as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team fell to No. 6/5 Scranton 89-54 Monday night.

The Ducks (5-2) lost their first ranked challenge of the season. Stevens is now 3-2 on the road. The Ducks are now 1-7 all-time against Scranton. The Royals remain unbeaten on the season, improving to 5-0.

Scranton led the whole game, jumping out to a 5-0 early lead. First-year Paige Gorczyca scored the first four for the Ducks, and then Castro made her first jumper of the game as the Royals led 11-6. Junior Lucy Alberici hit a three for the Ducks at the 6:14 mark to cut the deficit to two. Three minutes later, sophomore Dorothy Loffredo contributed a jumper as the Ducks remained close with Scranton, trailing only 16-15. The Royals would go on a 14-1 run to close the quarter and take a 30-16 lead into the second. Down 16, Castro buried a three pointer early in the second as she tried to will the Ducks back into the game. The Royals lead would get two 22 in the quarter, as Stevens would only score 11 total points in the frame. Scranton led 45-27 at the half. 

The two teams traded buckets throughout the early parts of the third quarter. Loffredo hit one jumper while Castro added two. With 4:25 remaining , the Scranton lead had ballooned 26. Senior Anika Damera quickly got two points back on a made layup. Scranton led by 30 heading into the fourth. The Royals extended their lead to 35 quickly to kick off the fourth before Castro hit a three to stop the bleeding. Scranton would go on a 7-1 run before first-year Kay Decker made a layup with 3:34 to go. The deficit would be too much for the Ducks as they were unable to comeback, dropping their second game of the year.

Top Performers

• Castro also added two steals.
• Gorczyca scored six points and added six boards.
• Decker added six points and five rebounds.
• Alberici also scored six points and grabbed four rebounds.
• Stevens shot 36.7 percent (22-60) from the field and 21.4 percent (3-14) from three. The Ducks also shot 53.8 percent (7-13) from the line.

The Opponent

• Meghan Lamanna had a game-high 21 points.
• Kaci Kranson added 17 points and recorded a steal.
• Victoria Toomey grabbed nine boards.
• Hannah Angelini and Jenna Sloan each had five assists.
• Scranton shot 50.7 percent (35-69) from the field and 57.9 percent (11-19) from three. They also went 8-11 from the free throw line (72.7%).

Around the MAC Freedom

• Lebanon Valley 42, Elizabethtown 70 F/WED
• Penn State Harrisburg 62, King's 60 F/SUN
• John Jay 55, Arcadia 76 F/SUN
• DeSales 89, Marywood 39
• Delaware Valley 68, Stockton 66

Up Next: Women's basketball returns home this Saturday as they host No. 7/11 Trinity (CT). Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. The Ducks are 0-3 all-time against the Trinity. Links for live stats and video are posted to stevensducks.com