Meredith Mesaris	Lindsay Fluehr	Sarah Payonk
Alison Sweeney	Lia DiSciascio	Jaclyn Gantz

Box score

Photos (Courtesy of Emma Black)

Photos (Courtesy of Dan Ceccacci)

The University of Scranton women's basketball team has won in a variety of ways during its current winning streak. On Wednesday night against Drew University, the Lady Royals turned to their inside advantage to extend the streak to 12 straight victories.

Junior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) scored a season-high 31 points and freshman forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) had a career-high 18 points to lead Scranton to a 90-70 victory in the Long Center.

The 12-game winning streak is the longest since the Lady Royals (14-2, 6-0 Landmark) won 19 in a row in the 2008-09 season. During the current win streak, they have outscored opponents by an average of 20.1 points per game. The 90 points in Wednesday night's victory were a season high.

Mesaris and Roman used their size and quickness inside to dominate from the opening tip. Both stand 6-foot-1 with solid post moves, which led them to combine to go 20-for-24 from the field, with Mesaris going 11-for-13 and Roman finished 9-for-11.

Their performances led to the Lady Royals scoring 52 of their 90 points in the paint. They also dominated the rebounding battle, 50-29, as both Mesaris and Roman had nine apiece, and junior guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) and freshman forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) had seven rebounds each.

Scranton raced out to a 48-34 halftime lead as Mesaris had 15 points and Roman had 14. The Lady Royals shot 52.9 percent (18-for-34) in the first half and finished at 50 percent (34-for-68) for the game.

Senior guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./St. Rose) and junior guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) had eight points each, and sophomore guard Jaclyn Gantz (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) added seven points.

Payonk continued her strong all-around play, adding six assists, five blocks and four points to those seven rebounds.

Drew (9-7, 2-3 Landmark) was led by junior guard Breana Wilson (Irvington, N.J./Berkshire School, Mass.), who had 20 points and nine assists. Sophomore guard Courtney Stephens (Pikesville, Md./Gerstell Academy) added 19 points and eight rebounds.

First place in the Landmark Conference will be on the line when the Lady Royals will go for their 13th straight victory when defending conference champion Catholic University comes to the Long Center for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Jan. 25. The game follows the University's Wall of Fame induction ceremony, which will take place immediately following the men's game between Scranton and Catholic at 1 p.m. 

--ROYALS--