THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.—The University of Scranton women's basketball team went cold at the worst possible time Sunday afternoon against Cal-Lutheran University at the Gilbert Center.

After building up a 17-point second-half lead with 14:45 remaining, the Lady Royals scored only four points the rest of the way and suffered a 44-42 setback.  The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for Scranton, now 9-3, while the Regals improved to 9-2.

Sophomore forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) led Scranton with 12 points, including 10 in the first half as the Lady Royals shot only 32.1 percent from the field yet still managed to squeeze out a 22-21 lead by intermission.  Scranton also received seven points and nine rebounds from senior forward Erin Boggan (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) and six points, a career-high 12 rebounds, five assists, and two steals from sophomore guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy).

Senior guard/forward Starla Wright (Los Angeles, Calif./Valencia) led Cal-Lutheran with 14 points and 13 rebounds.  The Regals, who also received seven points and five rebounds from senior forward Channing Fleischmann (Reno, Nev./McQueen), pulled out the improbable win despite shooting only 19.2 percent from the field in the second half.

After a sluggish first half in which neither team established any type of tempo, the Lady Royals appeared to be in total control when senior guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, NJ/Saint Rose) kick-started a 16-0 rally with back-to-back 3-pointers as Scranton took a 38-21 lead.

Then the bottom dropped out.

The Lady Royals went over 10 minutes without scoring a point until Fluehr stopped the bleeding with a jump shot with the shot-clock winding down with 4:41 left to keep Scranton on top, 40-35.

The Regals finally overcame their own troubles on offense and took their first lead since the 18-minute mark of the first half on one of two free throws by senior guard Erica Whitley (Oxnard, Calif./St. Bonaventure) with 1:24 left before Mesaris scored the Lady Royals' final bucket, on a jump shot 20 seconds later to give Scranton its last lead, 42-41.

Wright then canned two free throws to regain the lead for Cal-Lutheran and following a Lady Royal turnover, sophomore guard Keeley Anderson (Orange, Calif./Santiago) set the final score by making one of two free throws with 20 seconds remaining. The Lady Royals had a chance to win or tie the game on their final possession, but Fluehr's deep 3-pointer was short of the mark as the buzzer sounded.

Scranton shot 7-for-26 from the field (26.9 percent) and turned the ball over 14 times in the second half.

The Lady Royals will take on 17th-ranked Emmanuel College (Mass.) tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at the Gilbert Center.