SCRANTON, Pa. -- The Elizabethtown College women's basketball team had beaten Scranton once at the John Long Center this season, but the Royals weren't about to let that happen a second time as the top seed shot out to a fast start on their way to a 68-48 win in the 2019 Landmark Conference Championship. Lydia Lawson had a team-high 15 points for E-town in the loss.

Early three-pointers by Scranton (25-2) helped get the nationally-ranked Royals ahead quickly. By 3:47 of the first quarter, SCR led 14-2 as the Jays couldn't get the ball to drop into the net. Elizabethtown (19-7) could only manage four points in the first and trailed 18-4 heading into the second.

Ahead 20-4, Veronica Christ knocked down a pair of shots and Lawson sank a trey to force a 30-second timeout by Scranton as the Blue Jays were back under double digits at 20-11. The Royals kept the pedal to the metal so to speak and did not let up. Though Elizabethtown seemed to settle in a bit better, Scranton continued its balanced attack. Four for the Royals ended up with 10 or more points, led by Sofia Recupero's 22, 14 of which came over the first two quarters.

Out of halftime and up by 16, the Royals were able to maintain a 15-to-19-point cushion for most of the third and never gave E-town a sniff at a comeback attempt. With the outside shot not falling for the Jays, the job was even tougher over the final two quarters.

The defending champions were relentless and denied Elizabethtown its first conference title since 2000-01. Scranton hadn't lost a championship game on its home floor since Catholic upset the Royals in 2015, 52-51.

Lawson led the way with 15 points, Christ had a team-high eight rebounds to go along with eight points. Marissa Emlet also scored eight for the Blue Jays.

Elizabethtown will wait and see if it will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Divison III Championships. The bracket will be revealed on Monday, February 25, at 2:30 p.m. EST.