MADISON, NJ – Susquehanna's women's basketball team polished off their best regular season finish in the five-year Gabby Holko era Saturday afternoon, taking a 64-44 win at Drew. The River Hawks, already with the fourth seed clinched for the Landmark Conference Tournament, could only improve on their game heading into Saturday's matchup and they did just that to take a series sweep of the Rangers. Near game's end they had even more to play for as Kaitlyn Lynch was closing in on her second straight 20-point game and 1,000 career points. Lynch, who led the team in scoring with 22 points, hit the 1K mark right on the nose with a pair of free throws near game's end. She shot 66.7% (6-9) from the floor, including a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point land, and 85.7% (6-7) from the foul line. She would also tally five rebounds on the night.
With a 17-8 overall record and 12-6 Landmark mark, the River Hawks amassed their highest win total since 2015-16, which also marked their last Landmark Tournament appearance. While Saturday's victory was a memorable one, the River Hawks will need to refocus as they will rematch the Rangers Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Landmark Quarterfinals from O.W. Houts Gymnasium in the 4-5 matchup. A victory will slot them into Thursday's semifinals game against top-seeded Catholic.
The River Hawks got off to a slow start at the beginning of the game down 6-0, but after three minutes of play Lynch drained her first bucket and three of the game to make it a score of 6-3. This would be followed up by a Zoie Maffei (eight points, eight rebounds) mid-range jumper to close it to 6-5 Drew over Susquehanna. The two teams would trade buckets throughout the rest of the quarter with Drew keeping the lead and ending the first quarter with a score of 13-11.
To start the second quarter Drew subbed back in all their original starting five and Lynch would make her own return to the game. After each side held a good defensive stand the Rangers would be the first team on the board in the second quarter after making one of two free throws. This would be answered by a Lynch three point shot after nine seconds to tie the game at 14-14.
The next time down the court Julia Pinckert went to the foul line and sunk both of her free throws, giving the River Hawks their first lead of the contest. This would be quickly answered by Drew with a couple of layups, which were split by a Grace Meehan free throw, making the score 18-17 Drew after three and a half minutes in the quarter. The very next River Hawk possession featured Lynch making her third shot from beyond the arc in the contest. The River Hawks would hold the lead for the remainder of the quarter going up by as much as eight, with the quarter ending in a 27-23 lead for the River Hawks.
In the first four minutes of the third quarter the River Hawks went on an 11-2 scoring run to claim control and bring the score to 38-25. The River Hawks kept the lead in double digits for most of the quarter. Not long after going down by 13 Drew would cut the lead to 10, and after two scoreless minutes for both teams Lauren Klein notioned with a shot from beyond the arc to extend the lead back to 13. The team would trade buckets for the next three minutes and the quarter would end with a score of 44-34 in favor of Susquehanna.
The River Hawks posted an electrifying fourth quarter with 20 points in the frame and doubling their third-quarter lead by holding the Rangers to 10 points. Twenty seconds into the quarter Klein would once again hit from deep to get the River Hawks on the board first. A few minutes later Drew's Jamie Struble hit a pair of free throws after being fouled by Julia Rother, which would be quickly answered by Roth with a layup. After another pair of free throws from Struble the River Hawks would go on an 8-2 run over a three-minute span, capped off by a pair of free throws from Lynch, getting her to 998 points.
Lynch was awarded another trip to the free throw line just 40 seconds later and sink both chances to become the 15th player in SUWBB history to amass the millenium mark in points and the second under Coach Holko. Lynch was coronated by her team during a celebratory full timeout, in which she was subbed out in favor of Sydney Weyant, who in the last 100 seconds of game time would score five points, making a shot from deep and both chances during a trip to the free throw line. This gave the River Hawks their biggest lead of the night at 22. Drew would make their own pair of free throws to round out the game with the final score being 64-44 in favor of Susquehanna.
Tuesday marks Susquehanna's first Landmark Tournament game under Coach Holko and first since 2015-16. A win will not only square them off against a Catholic team they went down to the last minute in last month's meeting despite the Cardinals' #8 ranking, but give Susquehanna their most wins in a season since capturing 20 victories in 1994-95. The other Tuesday matchup pits sixth-seeded Moravian at third-seeded Elizabethtown, two teams Susquehanna split the regular season series against. The winner will play two-seed Scranton on Thursday from the Electric City.
