ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - Junior forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) had a big day, scoring 29 points to lead all scorers, as the fifth-ranked University of Scranton women's basketball team overwhelmed host Elizabethtown on Saturday afternoon, 78-59, in Landmark Conference action.
With the victory, Scranton moved to a perfect 19-0 on the year to remain one of five teams in all of NCAA Division III to be unbeaten. The Lady Royals are also 10-0 in the Landmark Conference.
Elizabethtown fell to 10-6 overall and 6-4 in the Landmark with the loss.
In the opening frame of the contest, both teams struggled to score, with Scranton eventually opening up a 15-11 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.
It was more of the same throughout the second quarter, as Elizabethtown was able to stay within distance for most of the first half, as Scranton led by just three points at 21-18 with 3:27 left in the quarter.
But, the Lady Royals ended the half on a big scoring run, racing into the locker room for intermission on a 7-1 spurt to take a 28-19 lead at the break.
To start the third quarter, Scranton went on a back breaking 10-6 run to open the frame to take their biggest lead of the night at 38-25.
From there, Elizabethtown was never quite able to get back in it the rest of the contest, as the closest the Blue Jays came to the Lady Royals lead the rest of regulation was nine points on two separate occasions in the third quarter, as Scranton steamrolled their way to their 19th straight win, 15th in a row by double-digits.
Overall, Roman scored 29 points in a contest for the second time in three games, going 14-of-20 from the floor overall in the victory. It was also the 18th time in 19 games Roman scored in double-figures and the ninth time she scored more than 20 points in a win.
Elsewhere, junior forward Sarah Payonk (Schweksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) almost notched yet another triple double, ending the game scoring 15 points, snatching 16 rebounds and dishing out eight assists. Payonk has now scored in double-figures in 14 of the last 15 games, notching her eighth double-double of the season in the victory.
Rounding out the double-digit scorers for Scranton was freshman guard Bridgette Mann (Canadenis, Pa./Wallenpaupack), who scored 14 points and dished out six assists.
The University of Scranton women's basketball team finishes off their three-game Landmark Conference road trip on Wednesday, traveling to Moravian. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--