Meredith Mesaris	Sarah Payonk	Noelle Alicea
Lindsay Fluehr	Lia DiSciascio

Box score

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The University of Scranton women's basketball team showed no signs of rust coming off a holiday break, using stifling defense and controlling the glass to defeat fourth-ranked Tufts, 52-41, on Sunday afternoon at Coliseo Guillermo Angulo at the University of Puerto Rico Bayamon.

Scranton, which is ranked sixth in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, held Tufts to just 28.3 percent (15-for-53) from the field and won the rebounding battle, 41-32. More importantly, the Lady Royals allowed just three second-chance points to the Jumbos.

Senior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) scored a game-high 15 points to lead Scranton, and sophomore forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) had 10 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot.

Scranton (9-1) took a 24-18 halftime lead by holding Tufts (8-1) to just 5-for-26 (19.2 percent) from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The Lady Royals allowed just three points in the final eight minutes of the half, turning a 15-11 deficit into a six-point advantage.

The Jumbos scored the first four points of the second half to close within two and later knotted the score at 32 with 8:26 to play. But Scranton answered with a 7-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by senior guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara), to regain control.

Tufts closed within one, 42-41, with 5:36 to play, but Scranton held the Jumbos scoreless the rest of the way, finishing the game on a 10-0 run.

Scranton shot 33.3 percent (15-for-45), including 5-for-11 from 3-point range. The Lady Royals also made 17 of 21 free throws (81 percent) and committed 20 turnovers, but allowed just 11 points off those turnovers.

Junior guard Noelle Alicea (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) finished with nine points and two steals, and senior guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) had three points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Sophomore forward Michela North (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) was the only Tufts player in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds. The Jumbos were 3-for-16 from 3-point range, nine of 13 from the free throw line and committed 14 turnovers.

The Lady Royals will conclude their trip when they face Babson tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

--LADY ROYALS--