The University of Scranton women's basketball team used a solid second half performance for the second straight game to pull away from Oneonta State for a 68-59 victory on Monday evening in the Long Center.

Sophomore forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) led the Lady Royals (9-2) with 24 points and six rebounds and junior guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./St. Rose) scored a season-high 22 points to lead the way. Sophomore guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) narrowly missed a triple-double with nine points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

Scranton held a 26-24 lead at halftime after shooting 28.6 percent (8-for-28) in the opening 20 minutes. Oneonta State (4-7) then came out of the locker room with a 13-5 spurt to take a 37-31 lead with 13:55 to play.

But the Lady Royals answered with a 10-0 run, including a pair of 3-pointers from Mesaris, to take a 41-37 lead with 11:05 left. The Red Dragons then ran off five straight points, but Scranton came back with a 13-4 run to take a 54-46 lead, sparked by five straight points from Sweeney.

Oneonta State got no closer than five the rest of the way as Scranton made 14 of 16 free throws in the second half.

The Lady Royals shot 38.5 percent (10-for-26) from the field in the second half and finished 33.3 percent (18-for-54) for the game, including 11-for-34 from 3-point range. Mesaris and Sweeney combined to make 10 of 16 from beyond the arc.

The victory came in career game no. 950 for head coach Mike Strong. He now has a record of 779-171, and those  779 victories are the most in NCAA Division III women's basketball history.

Scranton committed 14 turnovers, including just six in the second half, while matching Oneonta State with 33 rebounds. The Red Dragons committed 20 turnovers and shot 41.7 percent (20-for-48) from the field, including three of 11 from the 3-point line.

Freshman guard Lyteshia Price (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) led Oneonta State with 23 points and nine rebounds.

Scranton will now break for the Christmas holiday before traveling to Thousand Oaks, Calif. to face Emmanuel (Mass.) on Sunday, Dec. 30, at 6 p.m.

--LADY ROYALS--