Sarah Payonk	Alexix Roman	Noelle Alicea
Meredith Mesaris	Lindsay Fluehr

Box score

Photo gallery (courtesy of Dan Cecci)

The sixth-ranked University of Scranton women's basketball team faced its first tough challenge of the season on Wednesday night when it hosted Eastern University in the first day of the Hilton Scranton Poinsettia Classic in the Long Center.

After playing most of the first half without their All-American, the Lady Royals used a big second half and a standout all-around performance by sophomore forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) to turn back the Eagles, 71-57.

Scranton (8-0) scored the first 11 points of the second half to turn a one-point halftime deficit into a 47-37 lead. Eastern (7-2) got no closer than five the rest of the way as the Lady Royals held the Eagles to just 8-for-33 (24.2 percent) from the floor in the second half.

Payonk had arguably the best all-around game of short career full of strong performances. She finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and three blocks while playing 34 minutes. Fellow sophomore forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) led Scranton with 18 points, junior guard Noelle Alicea (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) had 16 points, and senior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) had 13 points despite playing just three first-half minutes due to foul trouble.

Roman and Payonk teamed up to make up for Mesaris's absence by scoring 10 points each in the first half as Scranton went into the locker room trailing 37-36 after Eastern scored just before the buzzer. Payonk played all 20 minutes in the opening half, tallying seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.

The Lady Royals came out of the locker room and got a layup by Mesaris, followed by two more from Mesaris to take control. Senior guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy), who played all 40 minutes, nailed a jumper and Alicea capped the run with a 3-pointer for a 47-37 lead.

Eastern cut the Scranton lead to 52-47 with 12:19 to go on a layup by senior forward Meghan Nowak (Woodbury Heights, N.J./Gateway Regional), but Alicea and Mesaris drilled back-to-back 3-pointers for a 58-47 edge. Eastern would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

Alicea finished the night with five assists and four rebounds and Fluehr added eight points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Scranton finished the night going 27-for-52 (51.9 percent) from the field, including 4-for-10 from 3-point range. The Lady Royals were also 13 of 16 from the free throw line and won the rebounding battle, 38-31.

Just four players scored for Eastern, but all four were in double figures. Nowak led the way with a game-high 23 points while senior guard Kaitlyn Dougherty (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) had 12 and senior guard Gina DiDomenico (Egg Harbor Township, Pa./Egg Harbor Township) and sophomore forward Emily Lavin (Port Monmouth, N.J./Middletown North) had 11 each.

The Eagles shot 36.1 percent (22-for-61) for the game, including 5-for-21 from 3-point range. They made eight of 13 free throws and committed 14 turnovers while forcing 17 by Scranton.

The Hilton Scranton Poinsettia Classic will conclude on Thursday when Eastern takes on Richard Stockton at 3 p.m., followed by Scranton hosting Cabrini at 5. Cabrini edged Richard Stockton, 62-61 in overtime, in Wednesday's first game.

--ROYALS--