SCRANTON, Pa.—First-year guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./Saint Rose) made sure Mike Strong's 900th game as head coach at The University of Scranton was a memorable one Sunday afternoon at the Long Center.

Starting in place of injured senior guard Jennifer King (Taylor, Pa./Riverside) for the second straight game, Sweeney  knocked down 10 of 16 shots from the field to finish with a career-high 25 points as the Lady Royals cruised to an 82-51 victory.  The win was the second straight for Scranton, now 9-4 overall and 3-0 in the Landmark Conference.

Sweeney set the tone early, drilling three 3-pointers in the opening five minutes as the Lady Royals bolted out to a 16-5 lead.  She scored 16 first-half points on 6 of 10 shooting from the field as Scranton opened up a 42-22 advantage by intermission.  The Lady Royals' lead eventually ballooned to 33 points late the second half.

Junior forward Sarah Gage (Ledgewood, N.J./Roxbury) finished with 14 points and senior forward Courtney Roselle (Cedar Grove, N.J./Mount St. Dominic Academy) had seven points and seven rebounds for Scranton, which shot 40 percent from the 3-point arc (10 of 25) and 76.9 percent from the free throw line (10 of 13).   The Lady Royals also committed a season-low nine turnovers and their bench out-scored the Merchant Marine reserves, 33-5.

Senior forward Janay Weathers (Fredericksburg, Va./Riverbend) led the Mariners, now 4-7 overall and 0-3 in the conference, with 19 points and 12 rebounds and sophomore guard Tamara Kaileh (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) and senior guard Rebecca Grimes (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI Catholic) added 11 and 10 points, respectively.  For the game, Merchant Marine shot just 30.2 percent from the field and was guilty of 25 turnovers.

The Lady Royals will continue a four-game Landmark Conference home stand next Friday, January 14, against the Eagles of Juniata College beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Long Center.

News & Notes:  Strong is now 744-156 in 31 seasons as head coach at Scranton (.827)…Sweeney's previous season-high was a 13-point effort in a 68-53 victory over St. Mary's (Md.) in the opening round of the Days Inn Tournament at Gettysburg College on January 2…Lady Royals are 8-0 lifetime against the Merchant Marine Academy.

Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 82, MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY 51

MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY (4-7/0-3 Landmark)
Janay Weathers 6-11 7-8 19; Tamara Kaileh 2-7 7-9 11; Rebecca Grimes 3-15 4-6 10; Alicen Heinrich 3-5 0-0 6; Kristina Walz 1-4 1-3 3; Roshenda Josephs 1-2 0-0 2; Annie Wilcox 0-0 0-0 0; Meghan Dilliard 0-0 0-0 0; Olivia Norris 0-9 0-1 0; Nicole Barriga 0-0 0-0 0; Kathryn Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-53 19-27 51.

SCRANTON (9-4/3-0 Landmark)
Alison Sweeney 10-16 0-0 25; Sarah Gage 6-9 2-2 14; Courtney Roselle 3-5 1-2 7; Sidney Jaques 2-5 0-0 6; Tayler Pallotta 2-4 2-2 6; Katherine Torto 3-7 0-0 6; KC Hawkes 2-3 1-1 5; Katie Cunningham 0-5 4-4 4; Brianna Reigstad 1-3 0-0 3; Colleen McLane 1-2 0-0 3; Christina Hiltunen 1-4 0-2 3; Shernai Bentley 0-2 0-0 0; Megan Kopecki 0-7 0-0 0; Katie Sherry 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-73 10-13 82.

Merchant Marine Acad..........   22   29  -   51
The University of Scranton....   42   40  -   82

3-point goals--Merchant Marine Acad 0-8 (; Tamara Kaileh 0-1; Rebecca Grimes 0-4; Kristina Walz 0-1; Olivia Norris 0-2), The University of Scranton 10-25 (Alison Sweeney 5-9; Sidney Jaques 2-4; Brianna Reigstad 1-1; Colleen McLane 1-1; Christina Hiltunen 1-3; KC Hawkes 0-1; Katie Cunningham 0-4; Megan Kopecki 0-2). Fouled out--Merchant Marine Acad-None, The University of Scranton-None. Rebounds--Merchant Marine Acad 42 (Janay Weathers 12), The University of Scranton 41 (Courtney Roselle 7). Assists--Merchant Marine
Acad 11 (Tamara Kaileh 5), The University of Scranton 27 (Katie Cunningham 7). Total fouls--Merchant Marine Acad 11, The University of Scranton 20. Technical fouls--Merchant Marine Acad-None, The University of Scranton-None. A-250