University of Scranton’s Kaeli Romanowski controls the ball during the NCAA Division III second round game against Otterbein at the University of Scranton in Scranton on Saturday, March 07, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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University of Scranton’s Kaeli Romanowski controls the ball during the NCAA Division III second round game against Otterbein at the University of Scranton in Scranton on Saturday, March 07, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
For the University of Scranton women’s basketball team, the route to the Final Four is a local one.
On Sunday, the NCAA announced that Scranton would host its Sectional round of the Division III tournament. The Lady Royals (29-0) faces Bates College (26-3) in the Sweet 16 on Friday at 7 p.m. The first game features Johns Hopkins University (27-1) and Concordia-Moorhead College from Minnesota (25-4) at 4:30 p.m. The two winners advance to the Elite Eight on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Long Center with that winner moving on to the Final Four at in Salem, Virginia, on March 19-21.
Bates used a stirring comeback in its second-round game Saturday to advance to the Sweet 16. The Bobcats trailed Smith College by as many as 18 points in the first half and were still down by 13 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter when they ended regulation with a 15-2 run to tie the game, 60-60, and force overtime. Mya Hicks then scored five of her 19 points in overtime to give Bates a 74-70 victory.
This is the second year in a row that Bates is headed for the Long Center. The Bobcats lost to the Lady Royals in the second round last season, 70-49.
“It was a battle last year and I think they have a lot of their players returning,” Scranton coach Ben O’Brien said. “They’ll be familiar with us, we’re certainly familiar with them. They’re a great team, so we’ll do everything we can to get to work Monday, begin to break them down and everyone else in our pod and try to be prepared for everything that could come our way this weekend.”
Johns Hopkins is also making its second straight trip to the Long Center. Last year, it lost to Scranton in Sweet 16, 52-46.
The Blue Jays advanced this year with a 59-46 second-round win over Baldwin-Wallace on Saturday. Faith Williamson scored 18 points and the Hopkins defense forced 30 turnovers.
Concordia-Moorhead also has been to the Long Center previously. In 1987, when Scranton hosted the Final Four, the Cobbers were here and lost in the championship game to Wisconsin-Stevens Point. A 68-65 win over Ripon in the second round Saturday night has Concordia-Moorhead in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1993.
Scranton moved on Saturday night with a methodical 82-43 win over Otterbein University at the Long Center. Five players scored in double figures, led by Kaci Kranson with 17 points. Katie Gorski and Sophia Talutto each had 14 points, Elizabeth Bennett contributed 12 points and Kaeli Romanowski scored 11 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Otterbein got off to a hot start, hitting six of its first seven shots to take a 12-9 lead with 4:20 left in the first quarter.
Coming out of the media timeout, however, Scranton switched to a zone defense. It disrupted the Lady Cardinals’ fast start and enabled the Lady Royals to score the next 10 points and take the lead for good, 19-12, with 1:07 left in the first quarter.
“We always pride ourselves on our defense,” Romanowski said. “We were kind of getting beat a little in the beginning, but we were able to adapt and change to that zone. We pride ourselves on being tenacious and together. So the zone gave them kind of a different look, made them adapt a little bit. We were able to stay together and force them into some shots they didn’t want to take.”
A 7-2 start to the second quarter extended the Lady Royals’ lead to 28-17 with 7:09 left. Otterbein hit three consecutive baskets to cut the deficit to five. But that would be as close as the Lady Cardinals would come as Scranton closed the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 39-25 halftime lead. Bennett capped the outburst with a 3-pointer right before the first-half buzzer.
“We always try to end the half on a good note. It kind of demoralizes the other team,” Bennett said. “We really try to hone in on our defense and get those stops and our defense will flow into our offense and get our energy up.”
During a physical third quarter, Otterbein was whistled for 13 fouls. Scranton capitalized, scoring 17 of its 25 points from the free-throw line to increase the advantage to 64-37 heading to the fourth, where a 13-2 start to the quarter left no doubt that the Lady Royals were headed back to the Sweet 16.
“We’re getting stronger with each game,” O’Brien said. “(Saturday’s) game was super physical. I’m just so proud of our players how they not only were able to absorb that physicality but then return the physicality and continue to do it for 40 minutes. I was incredibly impressed. Otterbein challenges you in a lot of ways and I think we come out of this game a better team than when we went in.”
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