Junior guard Lindsay Fluehr (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) had the type of day point guards dream about on Saturday. And she did it all without scoring a single point.
Fluehr broke a 33-year-old record when she handed out 17 assists to lead The University of Scranton women's basketball team to an 83-73 victory over Catholic in a battle for first place in the Long Center on Wall of Fame Day. The victory keeps the Lady Royals (15-2, 7-0 Landmark) in first place and extends their winning streak to 13, the team's longest since they won 19 straight in 2008-09.
Fluehr broke the previous single-game assist record of 16, set by Fran Gabriel on Feb. 5, 1981. She had six first-half assists, then tallied 11 assists on Scranton's 17 made field goals in the second half. She now had 305 career assists, which ranks 13th in school history and just four shy of a tie for 11th.
Almost as impressive as her 17 assists, Fluehr committed just two turnovers while playing a team-high 33 minutes.
While Fluehr was making the passes, it was junior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax), junior guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and sophomore guard Noelle Alicea (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) doing the scoring. The trio scored 17 points each to lead Scranton, and freshman forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) added 15 points.
Scranton jumped out to a 20-point lead midway through the first half and took a 40-29 lead into the locker room after Catholic finished the half on a 12-3 run. The Lady Royals shot 53.6 percent (15-for-28) in the opening half, including 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) from 3-point range, including 3-for-5 from DiSciascio.
The Lady Royals used a 14-2 run early in the second half to take a 54-35 lead with 15:19 to play. They pushed the lead to 20 a few minutes later, and Catholic could get no closer than seven with 2:31 to play. Alicea made four free throws and Payonk scored twice from the floor to put the game away in the last two minutes.
Scranton finished the game 32-for-58 (56.7 percent) from the floor and dominated the rebounding battle, 41-27. Payonk led the way with nine rebounds, Mesaris had seven and Fluehr had six. The Lady Royals overcame 17 turnovers by scoring 38 points in the paint.
The Lady Royals' bench scored 40 of the team's 82 points. In the 13-game winning streak, the bench has averaged 30.2 points per game.
Catholic (12-4, 5-1 Landmark) received 17 points apiece from sophomore forward Josephine Migash (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) and sophomore guard Jayni Webster (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Country Day Sacred Heart). The Cardinals shot 40.7 percent (24-for-59), including 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) from 3-point range.
Prior to tip-off, Scranton held an induction ceremony for the seven newest members of its Wall of Fame: Liz Baumbach '03 (women's lacrosse), Bridget Lee '03 (women's lacrosse), Laura (Boersig) Castner '02 (field hockey), Darren Buseman '03 (wrestling), Valerie (Crist) Sherwin '88 (women's volleyball), Dan Loftus '03 (men's basketball) and Derek Elphick '03 (men's basketball).
Scranton returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 29, when they host Moravian at 7 p.m. in the Long Center.
--ROYALS--