SCRANTON, Pa. - Senior forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) poured in a game-high 24 points, as the third-ranked University of Scranton women's basketball team opened a big halftime lead, and never looked back in a 77-45 win at Marywood on Wednesday night.

With the win, Scranton remained unbeaten on the year at 8-0 overall, while Marywood fell to 4-4 with the loss.

In the first match-up between the schools since 2012, Scranton put away the host Pacers in the first half.

After Marywood opened an early 5-2 lead, Scranton ended the opening frame on a 18-6 run over seven minutes to open a 20-11 lead after the first 10 minutes of regulation.

The second quarter saw the Lady Royals extend their lead out even more, going up by double-digits for the first time on the night (27-17) with seven minutes left. That lead was stretched out to 36-17 with 2:53 left in the first half after Scranton kept Marywood off the scoreboard for almost six minutes.

Up 36-21 at the half, Scranton outscored the Pacers 20-8 in the third quarter to take an insurmountable 30-point lead (59-29) entering the final period. In the fourth, the Lady Royals coasted on their way to a 32-point victory, their sixth double-digit victory in their first eight games of the 2016-17 season.

Overall, Roman posted her best performance of the season to date in the scoring column with her 24-point evening on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor, as she also pulled down nine rebounds in the win.

Elsewhere, freshman guard Mackenzie Yori (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) finished with nine points and senior forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) had six points, but ripped down a game-high 12 rebounds, with four steals and three assists. Freshman guard Emily Sheehan (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore) chipped in with seven points and dished out a team-high five assists, as well.

Defensively, the Lady Royals had another strong night, holding Marywood to just 25.5 percent shooting from the floor on the night, while out-rebounding the Pacers by a 46-28 margin.

The University of Scranton women's basketball team returns to action on Saturday night, as the program hosts the 2016 Hilton Scranton Poinsettia Classic inside the John Long Center. Scranton will take on Washington & Lee in the second game of the evening at 8 p.m. The first game, which begins at 6 p.m., will feature Stockton and Maine Presque Isle.

--LADY ROYALS--