KINGS POINT, N.Y. – The University of Scranton women's basketball team continued its dominant play of late, rolling to its 10th straight win by defeating Merchant Marine Academy, 81-39, in O'Hara Hall on Wednesday night.

Junior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) led Scranton with a game-high 21 points, senior guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./St. Rose) had 12 points and freshman forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) added 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

The Lady Royals' 10-game winning streak is their longest since they won 10 straight during the 2009-10 season. During the current 10-game streak, Scranton is outscoring its opponents by an average of 20.3 points per game.

Scranton (12-2, 4-0 Landmark) opened the game with a 10-2 run, then took full control with a 15-2 run midway through the first half to build a 27-11 lead with eight minutes left before halftime.

The lead swelled to 44-16 at the break as Scranton shot 45.9 percent (17-for-37), including 4-for-9 from 3-point range. Mesaris scored 15 points in the opening 20 minutes and Roman added nine points.

The Lady Royals kept the heat on in the second half by canning eight of 15 3-pointers (53.3 percent), which kept the Mariners from mounting any sort of comeback.

Junior guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) had a strong game, finishing with seven points, nine assists, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Junior guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) had six points, four steals and four rebounds, and sophomore guard Jaclyn Gantz (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) added six points, four rebounds, a steal and an assist.

Scranton finished the night shooting 44.1 percent (30-for-68) from the field, including 12-for-24 from beyond the arc. Sweeney led the way, making four of her six 3-point attempts. The Lady Royals committed just 11 turnovers while making nine steals.

Perhaps more impressively, the Lady Royals won the rebounding battle, 45-36. Merchant Marine Academy entered the game averaging 51.0 rebounds per game with a rebounding margin of plus-13.2, the third-best rebounding margin in all of NCAA Division III women's basketball.

The Mariners (2-9, 0-5 Landmark) were led by junior guard Demi VanDerWal (Springfield, Ill./Springfield), who finished with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Mariners shot 30.2 percent (16-for-53) from the field, including 2-for-11 from beyond the arc.

Scranton will go for its 11th straight victory when it travels to Towson, Md. on Saturday, Jan. 18, to take on Goucher College at 7 p.m. 

--LADY ROYALS--