DANBURY, Conn. – The University of Scranton women's basketball team shook off any holiday rust by throttling William Paterson, 81-60, in the opening round of the Hat City Classic on Saturday night at Western Connecticut State.

Junior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) scored a team-high 23 points for the Lady Royals (8-2) won their sixth straight and brought head coach Mike Strong within three victories of reaching 800 for his career.

The Lady Royals will face St. Joseph's (Maine) in Sunday's title game at 4 p.m. St. Joseph's defeated Western Connecticut State, 60-41, in Saturday's first opening-round game.

Junior guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) added 11 points in 21 minutes off the bench for Scranton, marking the fourth straight game she's scored in double figures. She's averaging 13 points per game in those four games.

Scranton raced out to a 43-21 halftime lead as Mesaris poured in 16 points in the opening 20 minutes. She has now scored in double digits in all 10 games this season. The Lady Royals shot a sizzling 18-for-38 (56.3 percent) from the field in the first half, including 4-for-9 from 3-point range.

They stayed hot from the field in the second half, making half of their 28 field goal attempts, including four of 10 from beyond the arc. Scranton finished the game 32-for-60 (53.3 percent) from the field, including 8-for-19 (42.1 percent) from 3-point range.

After making just 16 3-pointers while shooting 19.8 percent from the 3-point line in their first five games, the Lady Royals have made 42 of 103 attempts (40.8 percent) from beyond the arc in their last five games.

Scranton overcame a season-high 29 turnovers by dominating the boards by a wide margin, 51-29. Mesaris led the way with nine rebounds while freshman forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) had seven boards to go along with six points, four assists, four blocks and three steals.

The Lady Royals also received nine points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal from senior guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./St. Rose), and eight points, five rebounds, to blocks and an assist in 16 minutes off the bench from freshman forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack).

Scranton's bench combined for 41 points, led by DiSciascio's 11 and Roman's eight, while senior forward Katie Sherry (Havertown, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy) and sophomore guard Noelle Alicea (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) had six points each.

William Paterson (5-6) was led by senior guard Floriana Borava (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill), who scored a game-high 24 points. The Pioneers, who were ranked 18th in the preseason D3hoops.com Top 25, shot just 32.9 percent (23-for-70) from the field while committing 18 turnovers. 

--LADY ROYALS--