Meredith Mesaris	Sarah Payonk	Lindsay Fluehr
Alexix Roman	Alison Sweeney	Denise Rizzo

Box score

MADISON, N.J. – The University of Scranton women's basketball team pulled away midway through the first half and cruised to a 77-47 victory at Drew University in a Landmark Conference game on Wednesday night in Baldwin Gymnasium.

The victory keeps the Lady Royals (19-3, 10-1 Landmark) in a first-place tie with Catholic (17-4, 10-1), which rallied to defeat Susquehanna, 71-63, on Wednesday. Scranton and Catholic will square off this weekend in Washington, D.C. with first place on the line.

Junior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) scored a game-high 21 points for Scranton. She has now scored in double figures in all 22 games this season. Freshman forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) had 16 points, four steals and three rebounds for the Lady Royals.

Junior point guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) also had a big game, finishing with 10 assists, six steals and five rebounds to go along with one point in 28 minutes. It was the second game this season she had double-digit assists. She set a Lady Royals single-game record with 17 assists in an 83-73 win over Catholic on Jan. 25 in the Long Center.

Scranton used a 17-5 run midway through the first half to turn a two-point lead into a 29-13 cushion. The Lady Royals extended the lead to 41-21 at halftime and finished the opening 20 minutes going 18-for-31 (58.1 percent) from the field, including four of nine from 3-point range.

The second half was more of the same as the Lady Royals used a 10-2 run to push the lead to 60-30. The spurt was capped by a three-point play from freshman forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack), who finished the game with seven points.

Scranton also received six points and six rebounds from senior guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./St. Rose), six points and four rebounds apiece from senior forward Katie Sherry (Havertown, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy) and freshman forward Denise Rizzo (Paramus, N.J./Holy Angels), and six points and three assists from sophomore guard Jaclyn Gantz (Havertown, Pa./Haverford).

The Lady Royals finished the game 31-for-71 (43.7 percent) from the field and 7-for-24 from 3-point range. They also made eight of 11 free throws while holding a 46-36 advantage in rebounding. Scranton also committed just 10 turnovers, its second-lowest total of the season, and the bench outscored Drew's substitutes, 30-18.

Drew (11-11, 4-7 Landmark) did not place a player in double figures in scoring while going 19-for-54 (35.2 percent) from the field, including 3-for-14 from 3-point range. The Rangers committed 21 turnovers, leading to 23 points by Scranton.

The Lady Royals will face Catholic in a battle for first place on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. in Washington, D.C. 

--LADY ROYALS--