DANBURY, Conn.—Junior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) and freshman forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) put on a dominating performance Sunday afternoon in leading The University of Scranton women's basketball team to a 72-51 victory over Saint Joseph's (Maine) in the championship game of the Hat City Classic at Western Connecticut State University.

Mesaris, the tournament's most valuable player (MVP), scored a season-high tying 25 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and Payonk finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Lady Royals won their seventh straight game to improve to 9-2.  Scranton, which led 33-22 at the break, also received 14 points, nine assists, and five rebounds from junior guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy).

Veteran Lady Royal head coach Mike Strong is now only two wins shy of becoming the first coach in NCAA Division III women's basketball history to win 800 games in a career.  He is now 798-180 (.816) in his 34th season, all at Scranton.

The Lady Royals offset a so-so shooting effort today (39.3 percent) by dominating the boards.  With Mesaris and Payonk controlling the glass, Scranton out-rebounded the Monks, 48-29, which in turn led to an 18-6 advantage in second-chance points and a 20-6 margin in points in the paint.  

Defensively, the Lady Royals turned up the heat, making 13 steals while pressuring St. Joseph's into turning the ball over 24 times, which Scranton converted into 23 points.  The Lady Royals also limited the Monks to just 37.1 percent shooting from the field.  Scranton has now held each of its last four opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field and nine of 11 overall.

Mesaris's 'double-double' in points and rebounds was her third of the season while Payonk recorded her team-leading fourth.   Fluehr continues to flourish at the point, averaging 9.8 points (on 72.2 percent shooting from the field), 5.8 assists, and 4.4 rebounds in her last five games.

Lady Royal junior guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara), who had 11 points, four rebounds, and two steals in 21 minutes off the bench in yesterday's 81-60 victory over William Paterson, was named to the all-tournament.  In today's game, she had another solid effort off the bench, finishing with eight points, three rebounds and two steals in 18 minutes.

Senior guard Morgan Cahill (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) and senior forward Lindsay Moore (Barrington, NJ/Dover) led St. Joseph's, now 7-3, with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

The Lady Royals, in the midst of their longest winning streak since 2011, will return to action this Wednesday, January 8, against the Lady Colonels of Wilkes University at the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, beginning at 6:00 p.m.  The game will be broadcasted by WUSR, 99.5 FM, and over the Internet at www.wusrfm.com, with veteran announcer Dean Corwin calling all the action.