Box Score

NOVEMBER 23, 2013

KING'S WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FALLS TO SCRANTON, 78-65

WILKES-BARRE — Meredith Mesaris, a 6-foot-1 center, scored a game-high 19 points and was joined by three other double-figure scorers as the visiting University of Scranton women's basketball team posted a 79-65 victory over host King's College in a non-conference matchup Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the loss, King's slipped to 2-3 on the year while Scranton improved to 2-1.

The teams started out in a back-and-forth affair as KIng's held a 15-14 lead with 12:39 left in the opening stanza after one-of-two foul shots by Shae Grim. But Scranton countered with a 10-0 run ignited by a three-pointer by Noelle Alicea, a driving lay-up by Katie Sherry, a traditional three-point play by Lindsay Fluehr and a lay-up from Alicea to give the Lady Royals a 24-15 lead with 10:27 on the clock. Scranton would build their biggest lead of the opening stanza when Mesaris converted a three-point play to push the score to 31-19 at the 6:04 mark.

King's got the lead down to 35-28 after a three-pointer from Jessica McHugh and one-of-two foul shots by Grim with 2:55 to play, but Scranton used a lay-up from Katie Sherry with 0:18 left as the Lady Royals took a 40-30 lead at the break.

In the second half King's slowly whittled away the lead and used a three-pointer by Ashley Davies, and two inside buckets by Jennifer Fabian to cut the lead to 59-56 with 10:00 on the clock.  Scranton, however, countered with a 8-0 surge to stretch the lead to 67-56 after a driving lay-up by Fluehr with 7:26 to play.

King's made one last run with four straight points from Marissa Manning, a three-pointer by Kayla Feairheller, and another inside bucket to trim the Lady Royal lead to 69-65 with 5:28 to go.  As it did earlier, Scranton answered King's run with a surge of its own and close out the game by outscoring the Lady Monarchs  10-0 the rest of the way as King's was held without a point over the final five minutes of play.

Mesaris was 6-of-12 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the foul line. Sarah Payonk followed with 12 points and four rebounds while Alicea added 11 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Sherry tallied 10 points and four steals while Fluer posted seven points, 11 rebounds, and six assists.

For King's, Fabian posted her second straight double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks. Feairheller followed with 12 points and three rebounds while Manning tallied 10 points, six rebounds, and two blocks. Kasey Seitz added six points and eight assists while Grim, McHugh, and Tara Zdancewicz chipped in with six points each.

King's will be idle for Thanksgiving break until Monday, December 2 when the Lady Monarchs host Penn State Wilkes-Barre in Scandlon Gym.