Expand<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nSCRANTON \u2014 Ask members of the University of Scranton women\u2019s basketball team for words to describe its defense and the same adjective keeps being mentioned.<\/p>\n
\u201cTenacious and together,\u201d Meghan Lamanna said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTenacious and resilient,\u201d Kaeli Romanowski said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTenacious,\u201d coach Ben O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n
That tenacity was on full display Saturday as the No. 2 Lady Royals hounded and harassed Elizabethtown College throughout to roll to an 88-48 victory in the nightcap of a Landmark Conference doubleheader Saturday at the John Long Center.<\/p>\n
Lamanna scored 25 points, Kaci Kranson had 23 points and Elizabeth Bennett chipped in 16 for Scranton (13-0 league, 21-0 overall), while Romanowski totaled five points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals.<\/p>\n
But it was the defense, as usual, that set the tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where we start all our games and where we really pride ourselves,\u201d Lamanna said. \u201cToday I think was a very good example of that. We didn\u2019t take a possession off. Our help defense was good, on-the-ball pressure was good. That\u2019s just what we strive for in practice and in game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scranton ranks second in scoring defense in NCAA Division III, allowing 42.6 points, and fifth in field-goal percentage defense at 31.6 (310 for 980).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to be tenacious every game,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cOn the ball, off the ball, individually but also collectively as a team. The players are committed to 40 minutes of tenacious defense from start to finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we made them uncomfortable, made them really work for everything they got out there. They\u2019re a good team, so sometimes they\u2019re going to make tough shots. But I thought our players consistently for 40 minutes made things very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the teams met at Elizabethtown on Jan. 7, the Lady Royals won, 59-50. That is their narrowest margin of victory this season.<\/p>\n
Things weren\u2019t close this time around. Scranton never trailed, scoring the first six points. It used a 19-3 run spanning the final 3:50 of the first quarter and the opening 2:05 of the second to seize control and build a 29-9 lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast game when we played them, we didn\u2019t come out as intense as we expected ourselves to,\u201d Romanowski said. \u201cWe hold ourselves to a high standard and when that didn\u2019t happen, we went back and watched the film. Today, we knew we needed to come out strong, come out and throw the first punch. Our offense is led by our defense. We know if we\u2019re getting stops and creating chaos on defense, the rest of the game will come and shots will fall eventually. If not, we have our defense to lay back on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Romanowski is Scranton\u2019s secretary of defense. The senior from Western Wayne leads the conference and ranks top 15 in the nation in steals with 74.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Brien calls her the best defensive player he has coached at any level.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s such a great example for everyone else to follow,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cShe is the person that triggers that energy and tenacity. The tip of the spear for us defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leading at halftime, 42-19, the Lady Royals didn\u2019t let up in the third quarter. Lamanna scored on four consecutive possessions \u2014 three baskets coming on drives \u2014 for 10 straight points to extend the lead to 57-25 with 4:41 left.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just reading the defense and seeing what\u2019s open,\u201d Lamanna said. \u201cIf I had a drive, I was taking that. A three, then I was taking that. I was just trying to read the defense and play team offense. My teammates were finding me for outside shots and setting really good screens for me to get open.\u201d<\/p>\n
To start the fourth, Lamanna sandwiched two 3-pointers around two baskets by Kranson that made it 78-40 with 7:09 to play. Scranton\u2019s largest lead was 88-46 on a basket by sophomore Selena Cieszko with 1:12 remaining.<\/p>\n
Makenna Mummert led Elizabethtown (10-4, 14-7) with 16 points. Abington Heights graduate Peyton Houlihan had two points, four rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes.<\/p>\n
With two weeks left in the regular season, Lamanna said she and her teammates feel good where they\u2019re at but they\u2019re not satisfied. O\u2019Brien agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look up at the scoreboard in today\u2019s game and the outcome, we \u2014 the players and the coaches \u2014 still feel like there are areas where we can improve, which is a very exciting thing to think about,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cI think we\u2019re playing well, but there\u2019s definitely things we can keep working on. I think still our best basketball is ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between games of the doubleheader, the University held its annual Wall of Fame induction ceremony. This year\u2019s class includes Brendan Boken, men\u2019s basketball; Jo-Jo Cantafio, men\u2019s basketball and baseball; Lindsay Fluehr, women\u2019s basketball; Emily Goss, women\u2019s lacrosse; Jessica Pankey, field hockey; and Emily Walsh, women\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n
Marywood 74, Pratt Institute 65:<\/strong> At Brooklyn, New York, Mia Blue collected 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals to help lead Marywood University to an Atlantic East Conference road win over Pratt Institute.<\/p>\nMegan Cavoli added 17 points for the Pacers (6-4, 11-10), who outscored the Cannoneers, 18-7, over the final five minutes to earn the victory.<\/p>\n
Wilson 75, Keystone 43:<\/strong> At Chambersburg, Wilson College scored 30 points in the first quarter and pulled away to a United East Conference win over Keystone College.<\/p>\nTayana Bibbins led Keystone (3-9, 4-19) with 12 points, including 8 for 9 from the foul line. Jayda Price had nine points and five rebounds, while Mid Valley graduate Krista Cortazar finished with nine points and six rebounds.<\/p>\n
Harcum 106, Lackawanna 34:<\/strong> At Bryn Mawr, a shorthanded Lackawanna College squad dropped its fifth straight game in an NJCAA Region 19 Division II matchup against No. 3 Harcum College.<\/p>\nHarcum scored the first 26 points, led after one quarter, 30-5, and at halftime, 61-7.<\/p>\n
Canyah Randle led Lackawanna with 14 points. Sophia Summa added 12 points for the Lady Falcons (1-11, 7-15), who played with just six players because of injuries.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.thetimes-tribune.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meghan Lamanna University of Scranton Show Caption 1 of 1 Meghan Lamanna University of Scranton Expand SCRANTON \u2014 Ask members of the University of Scranton women\u2019s basketball team for words to describe its defense and the same adjective keeps being mentioned. \u201cTenacious and together,\u201d Meghan Lamanna said. \u201cTenacious and resilient,\u201d Kaeli Romanowski said. \u201cTenacious,\u201d coach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2272206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[350851,21848],"class_list":["post-2272205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-college-sports","tag-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Defense-propels-Lady-Royals-to-another-win-\u2013-Scranton-Times-Tribune.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2272205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2272207,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272205\/revisions\/2272207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2272206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2272205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2272205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2272205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}