SCRANTON, Pa. -- The Elizabethtown College women's basketball team came out of halftime and blitzed nationally-ranked Scranton on their home court in the third quarter to take the lead and never looked back as they handed the Lady Royals their first loss of the season, 64-56. Mikayla Ruth led all scorers with a game-high 18 points and Marissa Emlet recorded a double-double for E-town.

Ruth got going right away for Elizabethtown (12-6, 5-3 Landmark) with a pair of treys that had the Jays ahead 6-2 early in the first quarter. Scranton (18-1, 7-1 Landmark) responded with a 5-0 run as the two sides wrestled back and forth with the lead for the remainder of the quarter. Angie Hawkins gave the Blue Jays an 11-9 lead with 54 seconds left in the first quarter. Sofia Recupero, who led the Royals with 16 points, knocked down a pair of foul shots and Hannah Kowalski drained a jump shot with a few ticks showing on the clock. E-town trailed 13-11 going into the second.

Ruth's third three of the first half catapulted her team back in front and Roni Isenberg hit a jumper for a three-point lead, 16-13. Isenberg was a main source of Elizabethtown's second quarter offense as she scored 10 of the team's 15 points. The end of the second quarter was a repeat of the first as Kowalski hit another last-second jump shot that sent Scranton into the half ahead by one, 27-26.

E-town, plus-25 in the third quarter over the course of the season, made its mark in the third period by outscoring the Royals, 23-11. Scranton maintained its slim lead through the first two and a half minutes of the third, but the Blue Jays got the offense going behind Ruth, Emlet, and Lydia Lawson. Emlet's put-back layup made it 30-30, then, Ruth's jumper the next time down the floor gave the Jays a two-point lead. Veronica Christ found her junior teammate for the jumper. Another one-and-done trip for the Royals led to Emlet's rebound and outlet to Lawson, who got out on the fast break, outran the defense, and scored the bucket.

Kowalski hit another big shot, a three, to keep Scranton close. Ruth then scored, Emma Powell deflected a pass and sent Lawson out on another fast break. Powell recorded a second straight steal that ended up Lawson dishing out to Ruth on the bench side wing. Ruth swished the shot and Elizabethtown had its largest lead at seven, 42-35, with 3:29 to go in the third. Scranton was forced into a full timeout.

Christ drained a three to increase the lead to double digits and Hawkins created a steal and went the other way for the basket as the Jays were on a 17-5 run to take command of the game.

Ruth hit her fourth three-pointer of the game to start the scoring for E-town in the fourth. The lead grew to as much as 14 after Hawkins' layup. The Royals dug in and attempted to get back to within striking distance and did so. A 10-0 run by the Landmark's leading team made it 54-50 with over half the quarter yet to play. The Blue Jays' resilience and will to win endured as Powell halted the scoreless drought. A Scranton miss was followed up by Emlet's jumper and a four-point lead quickly went back up to eight.

Recupero provided Scranton a last-ditch effort with a bucket plus the foul. She sank the free throw and it was just a five-point game with 1:33 left. The Royals fouled on E-town's next possession, but sent Lawson to the line, where she hit both shots. Lawson grabbed the defensive rebound on Scranton's next possession and Emlet effectively put the game to rest with the shot clock winding down. Christ had the ball underneath and passed out to Emlet for the midrange jumper that she drilled to make it 64-55 with 33 seconds remaining.

The loss marked the first of the year for Scranton, recently ranked fourth in the WBCA Division III Coaches Poll and third in the D3Hoops.com Top 25. Ruth shot 7-for-11 and 4-for-6 from deep for her game-high 18 points. Emlet finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Isenberg added a near double-double of 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Elizabethtown will finish off its three-game road trip at Catholic on Wednesday, January 30, at 7 p.m.