SCRANTON, Pa.—The University of Scranton shook off a sluggish first half to pull out a 64-48 victory over the United States Merchant Marine Academy Saturday afternoon at the Long Center.

Junior forward Erin Boggan (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) led the Lady Royals with 14 points and 13 rebounds and junior guard Christina Hiltunen (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) and freshman forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) came off the bench and contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively.  The win was the fifth straight for Scranton, now 10-6 overall and 5-0 in the conference.

Freshman guard Demi VanDerWal (Springfield, Ill.) led the Mariners, now 3-9 overall and 1-4 in the Landmark Conference, with 12 points and junior guard Roshenda Josephs (Culpeper, Va.) finished with eight points and nine rebounds.

Trailing 26-25 at intermission, the Lady Royals finally shook off the cobwebs midway through the second half, when Hiltunen buried a 3-pointer that jump-started a 19-6 run that included six points from Boggan that turned a nail-biting 35-33 lead with 14:48 left into a comfortable 15-point margin with six minutes remaining.

The Lady Royals offset a 31.8 percentage shooting performance from the field by out-rebounding the Mariners, 47-39, and by converting 19 Merchant Marine turnovers into 18 points.

Boggan's 'double-double' was her fourth of the season and her 14 points was the fourth time in her last five games that she has scored in double figures.  Mesaris, who joined the Lady Royal program last Wednesday after transferring from American U niversity, connected on 5 of 7 shots from the field and finished with six rebounds, an assist and a steal in 19 minutes of action.

Prior to tip-off, The University of Scranton officially unveiled a banner in the Long Center recognizing veteran head coach Mike Strong on becoming the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division III women's basketball history.  Strong recorded the 758th win of his distinguished career on Saturday, December 17, in a 46-43 win over Cabrini College in Radnor, Pennsylvania, breaking the previous mark of 757 held by St. John Fisher head coach Phil Kahler.  With today's win, Strong now has 764 in his career.

The Lady Royals will return to action next Friday, January 20, against the Crusaders of Susquehanna University at the Houts Gymnasium in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, beginning at 7:30 p.m.