The scoreboard is turned off for the season, but the celebration of an historic year goes on for the University of Scranton.
Today the campus community assembled in the John Long center to honor the division 3 runner ups and a team that in November knocked off a power 4 opponent in Pittsburgh .
Fr. Joseph G. Marina, S.J. President, University of Scranton says,”Scranton is well known for an authentic community which we have enjoyed for many years. But the Lady Royals have taken it to where they conducted themselves, the integrity. the passion, the goodness of which they played was unmatched. So, I cannot be more proud. He’s made us stronger University and for nothing less than that, “
Ben O’Brien, Lady Royals coach added, “ It’s a very humbling experience. To be here today again with the community, a community that supported us through the whole entire season.
It was just really special for our team. And yes, we’ve had some time to reflect and, especially, you know, watching, the current Division One tournament going on, you see all these teams getting to the sweet 16 and the celebration after that, or getting to the Elite Eight and the celebration after that. So that’s kind of helped us appreciate just what we were able to accomplish this year.”
Kaci Kranson, Lady Royals Senior(Holy Cross) says, “ We lost last week. But you still have the community coming out; we have our athletic department, our men’s basketball team coming out, just showing their love and support. So, they really just show a testament how important, how special the university of Scranton really is ?
The 32 wins this season will be locked in the players’ memories forever, but the loss in the national championship game will haunt the team for a long time. For the Seniors their careers have been defined Ben O’Briens success as their coach.
Kaeli Romanowski, Lady Royals Senior says,“ Yeah, not our best performance. We always say we want to play our best basketball in March.
Up until that point, I think we played really well. Haven’t really had a chance to go back and think about what happens in all of the missed shots and all of the negatives. So, I think down the road will definitely see what we accomplished. How special the team was how special an experience it was. Not everybody gets to do this. “
Ide asks, Have you, have you diagnosed what happened in the last game?
O’Brien answers, “ Not yet. I haven’t gotten really to the last game. Yet, I just been I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of, support that we receive, the amount of messages we’ve received from the community members, from alumni. So still haven’t yet processed that last game.
So, it’s a fitting celebration to the end of a remarkable season for the Lady Royals of the University of Scranton. Most wins in program history and second in Division three. They’re already talking about a national championship here next year.
ready talking about a national championship here next year. Bob Ide, Fox 56 sports.