SCRANTON, Pa. – The No. 10/14 University of Scranton women's basketball team (15-2, 8-2 Landmark) forced 30 Juniata turnovers and rolled to a 74-38 victory over the Juniata College Eagles (2-15, 1-9 Landmark) on Saturday afternoon at the John Long Center in Scranton.

Saturday marks the sixth time this season that the Lady Royals have held an opponent under 40 points.

The two teams traded baskets in the first few minutes of the game and things were tied at eight apiece at the 7:02 mark of the first quarter before sophomore Kaeli Romanowski (Lake Ariel, Pa./Western Wayne) buried a three and Scranton closed the quarter on a 9-2 run for a 17-10 lead after one. Senior Maddie Hartnett (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) then opened the scoring in the second quarter with a three and Scranton held a 27-14 lead with 6:36 left in the period after a three-point play by sophomore Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross). The 27-14 score held for the next three plus minutes until a Romanowski layup ignited a 13-5 run over the final 2:57 and head coach Ben O'Brien's team took a 40-19 lead into the locker room.

Juniata opened the scoring in the third quarter with a pair of free throws, but Hartnett answered with a three on the other end to spark a 14-4 run and freshman Katie Gorski (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville Township) capped the run with two free throws of her own for a 54-25 advantage. Scranton took a 57-31 lead into the fourth and the Eagles sliced the lead to 58-36 before Gorski sank a trio of threes for a 67-36 lead with 4:32 to play as the hosts cruised to the victory.

Romanowski led all scorers with 18 points and was joined in double figures by Gorski with a career-high 12 points and Kranson with 10. Freshman Meghan Lamanna (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) and senior Maddy Ryan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) contributed nine points apiece for the Lady Royals.

Haily Sherman paced Juniata with 12 points in the setback.

The Lady Royals were 25-of-71 (35.2%) from the field and 9-of-27 (33.3%) from long range on the day and Juniata shot 31.9% (15-of-47) from the floor and 13.6% (3-of-22) from deep.

O'Brien's team held a 39-30 edge on the boards behind six rebounds from graduate student Kyra Quigley (Drexel Hill, Pa./Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr) and five apiece from Romanowski and Ryan.

Romanowski also added a team-high four steals in the contest.

Scranton will host Drew on Wednesday night at the John Long Center with opening tip slated for 7 p.m.

--LADY ROYALS--