Meredith Mesaris	Noelle Alicea	Sarah Payonk
Lia DiSciascio	Lindsay Fluehr

Box score

Photo gallery (courtesy of Dan Ceccacci)

Photo gallery (courtesy of Emma Black)

It won't go down in University of Scranton women's basketball history as one of the most efficient victories, but the Lady Royals got the job done on a night when they didn't have their "A" game.

Senior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax,Va./Fairfax) had 22 points and junior guard Noelle Alicea (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining as the Lady Royals held off Moravian, 67-64, on Wednesday night in the Long Center.

With the victory, Scranton (19-2, 11-1 Landmark) clinched a playoff berth and maintained its 1.5-game lead in the Landmark Conference over Susquehanna.

Scranton's performance at the free throw line, capped by Alicea's clutch shots at the end, were a big reason for the victory, as the Lady Royals had the second-best free throw shooting game in program history for games with at least 15 made free throws. They were 23-for-24 (95.8 percent) from the line, including a perfect 12-for-12 in the second half. The only game in team history with a higher free throw percentage came on Feb. 28, 2004, when they went 15-for-15 in a 70-69 victory over King's in the Freedom Conference championship game.

The Lady Royals led by eight with just 2:29 to play, but had to hold off Moravian (10-10, 6-5 Landmark) over a frantic final two minutes. The Greyhounds used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 65-64 with 32 seconds to play on a baseline jumper by junior guard Emily MacDonnell (Springfield, N.J./Jonathan Dayton).

Moravian then forced a turnover on the inbounds play and found itself with possession with 26 seconds to play and a chance to take the lead. But a contested 3-pointer was off the mark and Alicea corralled the rebound and was fouled. She calmly hit both ends of the one-and-one, and a Moravian 3-pointer just before the final horn that would've forced overtime was well off the mark.

Alicea finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and two turnovers while not committing a turnover in 30 minutes. Sophomore forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) had her fifth double-double of the season with 14 points, 15 rebounds and five assists.

Mesaris, who finished the night 10-for-10 from the free throw line, had 16 first-half points as Scranton overcame a six-point deficit with 7:28 on the clock by going on a 13-2 run that was sparked by a 3-pointer from Alicea.

Scranton finished the night going 20-for-59 (33.9 percent) from the field, including 4-for-16 from 3-point range. Senior guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara), who finished with eight points, had two key second-half 3-pointers.

The Lady Royals won the rebounding battle, 41-39, as Alicea and senior guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) had six each and DiSciascio added five. The Lady Royals overcame 17 turnovers by forcing Moravian into 16 miscues.

Prior to tip-off, Fluehr and Mesaris were honored as co-recipients of the Dr. Harold Davis Award, which is presented annually to the Lady Royals' most valuable senior.

The Greyhounds were led by sophomore guard Morgan Calabrese (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth), who had 19 points, and junior forward Alesha Marcks (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) added 18, including a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.

Moravian was 23-for-61 (37.7 percent) from the field, including 3-for-13 from 3-point range, and hit 15 of 20 free throws.

Scranton will begin a three-game road trip when they visit Juniata on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 2 p.m. in Huntingdon, Pa.

--LADY ROYALS--