Alexix Roman	Meredith Mesaris
Sarah Payonk	Jaclyn Gantz

Box score

Photo gallery (courtesy of Dan Ceccacci)

Freshman forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) continued her tremendous play off the bench to spark The University of Scranton women's basketball team past cross-town rival Marywood on Monday night in the Long Center.

Roman scored a career-high 19 points and added eight rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench as the Lady Royals stayed unbeaten against Marywood with a 72-58 victory. Scranton is now 35-0 all-time against the Pacers.

Junior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) added 13 points and seven rebounds as Scranton improved to 18-3, one victory shy of matching last season's total. Freshman forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) added nine points, nine rebounds and four assists as 12 players played at least a dozen minutes for the Lady Royals.

Scranton raced out to a 44-24 lead at halftime as Mesaris had 11 points, Roman had nine and Payonk added seven. The Lady Royals were 18-for-43 (41.9 percent) from the field and had a 29-13 rebounding advantage in the opening 20 minutes.

Roman helped Scranton put the game away her 10 points and seven rebounds in the second half. Sophomore guard Jaclyn Gantz (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) added five second-half points.

In 14 games this season, all off the bench, Roman is averaging 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game. Over the past three games, she's averaging 15.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game.

Eleven of the 13 players who played found their way into the scoring column for the Lady Royals, who surpassed 70 points for the 15th time in 21 games this season. They finished 28-for-73 (38.4 percent) from the field, including 7-for-27 (25.9 percent) from 3-point range. Scranton also made nine of 14 free throws and held a 53-32 rebounding advantage while making 17 turnovers.

The Lady Royals also had a 19-2 advantage in second-chance points thanks to 20 offensive rebounds.

Marywood (12-9) was led by senior guard Brittany Mang (Carbondale, Pa./Carbondale), who had 13 points. The Pacers finished 20-for-61 (32.8 percent) from the field, including 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) from 3-point range. They made 13 of 16 free throws and committed 16 turnovers.

Scranton returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 12, when the Lady Royals travel to Madison, N.J. for a Landmark Conference game against Drew University at 7 p.m.

--ROYALS--