SCRANTON, Pa. - Senior forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) and sophomore guard Bridgette Mann (Canadensis, Pa./Wallenpaupack) scored 14 points, apiece, to lead the way, as the University of Scranton women's basketball team rolled past visiting Drew, 71-45, in Landmark Conference action inside the John Long Center on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Lady Royals - who are ranked seventh in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll and eighth in the WBCA Coaches' Top 25 rankings - moved to 17-1 overall on the year, 6-1 in the Landmark Conference. Drew fell to 7-10 overall and 3-4 in the Landmark with the defeat.
To begin the game, the Lady Royals started slow, as Drew built an early first quarter lead at 11-5 with 4:06 left.
There, reserve junior guard Katie O'Reilly (Montville, N.J./Montville) came into the game and ignited Scranton, nailing a jumper and a three-pointer to cut the Drw lead down to 11-10.
Scranton proceeded to score the final four points of the quarter after O'Reilly's sparked the Lady Royals, as they ended the quarter on a 10-0 run to go up 15-11 entering the second.
In the second frame, Scranton began to distance themselves from Drew, quickly extending the lead out to nine point after scoring the first five points of the period (20-11).
The closest the Rangers got to the Scranton lead the rest of the quarter was five points (22-17), as the Lady Royals went on to outscore Drew 20-8 in the period to open a 35-19 lead at intermission.
The third quarter saw Scranton quickly stretch the lead out to 20 points (39-19), which proved to be too much of a deficit for Drew to come back from the rest of the way. Up comfortably at 52-33 entering the third quarter, Scranton coasted down the stretch, on their way to a 26-point victory at home.
Overall, Mann and Payonk led the way with their 14-point outings. Payonk posted a double-double in the win with 12 rebounds, to go with six assists, while shooting 5-of-6 from the floor. Mann, meanwhile, had five rebounds and dished out four assists in the victory.
Elsewhere, freshman Sofia Recupero (Whitestone, N.Y./Saint Francis Prep) had nine points off the bench (on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor), while senior forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) chipped in with eight points and pulled down seven rebounds. O'Reilly ended the game with seven points, all of which came in the first half.
As a team, Scranton was strong of the defensive end all night, forcing Drew to shoot just 26 percent in the game from the field. In the paint, the Lady Royals also dominated, outscoring the Rangers 34-8 in the contest.
The University of Scranton women's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, hosting Elizabethtown to kick-off the second half of the Landmark Conference season. Tip-off in the Long Center is set for 2 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--