SCRANTON, Pa. - Junior forward Alexix Roman (Hawley, Pa./Wallenpaupack) recorded a double-double with a game-high 29 points and 11 rebounds, as the fifth-ranked University of Scranton women's basketball team pulled away from visiting Moravian in the second half, taking an 81-69 victory inside the John Long Center in Landmark Conference play on Wednesday night.
With the win. Scranton remains unbeaten on the year at 17-0 overall and 8-0 in the Landmark Conference. Moravian fell to 13-3 and 6-1 in the Landmark with the defeat.
In the win, both teams played a tight first quarter that saw Scranton hold a lead for the majority of the period, as they went into the second up 16-14 on the Greyhounds. Scranton opened the second quarter firing, scoring the first five points of the period to take a 21-14 lead early.
The closest Moravian got to the Scranton lead the rest of the quarter was three points (23-20), and after cutting the lead down to four (29-25) with two minutes left, Roman scored six straight points to give Scranton their first double-digit lead of the night at 35-25. A late bucket by the Greyhounds did, however, make the score 35-27 at the half in favor of the Lady Royals.
To begin the second half, Moravian quickly trimmed the Scranton lead down to four points (38-34), then five points at 42-37 with 5:24 left in the third quarter. After a quick 5-0 run put the Lady Royals back up by 10 again at 47-37, Moravian once again cut the lead down, this time getting it to six points (49-43) with 2:50 left in the period.
This was the closest Moravian came to the Scranton lead the rest of the night, as the Lady Royals ended the third quarter on a huge 10-2 run that put them up 59-45 entering the fourth quarter. In the final frame, Scranton quickly extended the lead out to 20 points at 68-48 after a 9-3 run to open the period, and never looked back the rest of the contest.
From there, the Lady Royals coasted down the stretch, eventually hitting 81 points, which matched their second highest output in a game for the year and their most in a contest in Landmark Conference play. Scranton also never trailed in the contest, with the game being tied just twice early in the first quarter.
Overall, Roman missed just two shots from the floor in the victory (12-of-14) and missed just one free throw (5-of-6) on her way to a 29 point evening. Her double-double was her sixth of the 2015-16 season, as well.
Elsewhere, freshman guard Bridgette Mann (Canadenis, Pa./Wallenpaupack) scored 18 points (15 of which came in the second half), nailing four three-pointers throughout the contest.
Senior guard Jaclyn Gantz (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) was Scranton's only other double-digit scorer on the night, scoring 11 points, while fellow senior guard Noelle Alicea (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) scored nine points and dished out a career-high 10 assists in the win.
Rounding out the top individuals on the night for Scranton was junior forward Sarah Payonk (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford), who scored seven points, adding nine rebounds and nine assists.
The University of Scranton women's basketball team is now idle for a week, returning to action on Wednesday, January 27 when they travel to Drew for another Landmark Conference match-up. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
--LADY ROYALS--