KINGS POINT, NY—The University of Scranton women's basketball team kept its hopes for a home game in the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament alive by holding off the Merchant Marine Academy, 63-54, Wednesday evening at O'Hara Hall.

Sophomore forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) scored 9 of her game-high 17 points in the second half and sophomore guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) and senior guard Katherine Torto (Binghamton, NY/Seton Catholic Central) finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Scranton, now 14-6 overall and 6-3 in the Landmark.

Senior guard Tamara Kaileh (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) led the Mariners, now 7-11 overall and 1-9 in the conference, with 16 points and sophomore guard Demi VanDerWal (Springfield, Ill/Springfield) added 15.

Coming off an emotional 65-56 victory over Juniata College Saturday at the Long Center, the Lady Royals were sluggish in the first half and led by only one point with 17:31 remaining.  Torto, senior forward Erin Boggan (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) and senior guard Christina Hiltunen (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) each made a 3-pointer during a game-changing 13-3 rally  over the next four minutes to give Scranton the spark it so sorely needed.

Even though they continued to struggle on the offensive end, the Lady Royals were still able to maintain a double-digit lead throughout the late stages of the game.  Scranton shot only 35.7 percent from the field and was guilty of 16 turnovers, but it offset those numbers by making 7 of 17 attempts from the 3-point arc (41.2 percent) and 16 of 24 free throw attempts (66.7 percent).

The Mariners put up a valiant effort, but they shot only 33.3 percent from the field and were guilty of 15 turnovers.

Boggan finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds and Hiltunen contributed six points in 12 minutes of action off the bench.

Tonight's win, coupled with Catholic University's 77-74 victory over Juniata College, moves the Lady Royals into sole possession of third place in the conference, two games behind Catholic for second place and three and a half-games behind Moravian for the top spot.

With five conference games remaining, Scranton returns to action this Saturday, February 2, against Susquehana University at Houts Gymnasium in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, beginning at 2:00 p.m.