The University of Scranton women's basketball team built a double-digit lead in less than four minutes and road a significant size advantage to an 88-63 victory over Bridgewater State in an NCAA Division III Tournament first-round game on Friday evening in the Long Center.

The Lady Royals (25-3) advance to the second round, where they will face Vassar College (23-5) on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Long Center. Vassar defeated Williams College, 76-75, in Friday night's other first-round game in the Long Center.

Junior forward Meredith Mesaris (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) scored a game-high 22 points, freshman forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) matched her career-high with 19 points, and fellow freshman forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) added 13 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.

With Payonk at 6-foot and Mesaris and Roman both 6-foot-1, Scranton went right to its strength against the Bears (16-12), who had just one player in the regular rotation who stood 5-foot-10. Mesaris and Payonk combined for Scranton's first 18 points, with 13 of them coming from Mesaris as the Lady Royals had an 18-5 a little more than four minutes into the game.

That's when Roman checked in for the first time, and she added six first-half points as Scranton led 48-24 at the break. She then scored 13 second-half points as the Lady Royals thwarted a Bridgewater State comeback attempt when Bears senior guard Elisha Homich (Ludlow, Mass./Ludlow) hit a trio of 3-pointers early in the second half.

Scranton also received eight points, three rebounds and a block from senior guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./St. Rose), eight points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals from sophomore guard Noelle Alicea (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) and five points apiece from junior guard Lia DiSciascio (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) and sophomore guard Jaclyn Gantz (Havertown, Pa./Haverford).

The Lady Royals shot 53.3 percent (32-for-60) from the field, including 6-for-20 (30 percent) from 3-point range. They made 18 of 25 free throws (72 percent) and held a 42-32 rebounding edge. The Lady Royals had 50 points in the paint and 45 points from their bench.

Scranton is now 54-27 all-time in 27 NCAA Tournament appearances, and 35-5 all-time in NCAA Tournament games held in the Long Center. The victory marks the first time the Lady Royals have advanced past the first round since 2009, when they reached the Elite Eight.

Bridgewater State was led by senior guard Jenna Williamson (Ludlow, Mass./Ludlow), who had 15 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists. Senior guard Colleen Hanscom (Melrose, Mass./Melrose) had 13 points, and Homich added 11 points, all in the second half.

The Bears finished 22-for-60 (36.7 percent) from the field, including 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) from 3-point range. They made 12 of 18 free throws (66.7 percent) while committing 18 turnovers to 16 for Scranton. 

--ROYALS--