{"id":142046,"date":"2026-03-18T20:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T20:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/142046\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T20:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T20:45:10","slug":"division-iii-final-four-capsule-scranton-times-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/142046\/","title":{"rendered":"Division III Final Four capsule \u2013 Scranton Times-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The University of Scranton\u2019s Katie Gorski drives for a basket against Bates College in the NCAA Division III Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 game Friday at the John Long Center. (Vin Rinella \/ University of Scranton)\n<\/p>\n

\"University<\/p>\n

University of Scranton\u2019s Meghan Lamanna high fives her teammates as she runs onto the court before 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)\n<\/p>\n

\"Framingham<\/p>\n

Framingham State\u2019s Kelsey Yelle defends University of Scranton\u2019s Kaitlyn Raguso during NCAA DIII first-round game at the University of Scranton in Scranton on Friday, March 06, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 3<\/p>\n

The University of Scranton\u2019s Katie Gorski drives for a basket against Bates College in the NCAA Division III Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 game Friday at the John Long Center. (Vin Rinella \/ University of Scranton)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

University of Scranton Lady Royals (31-0) vs. New York University Violets (29-0)<\/p>\n

When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Where: Roanoke College\u2019s Cregger Center, Salem, Virginia<\/p>\n

Tickets: Go to ncaatickets.com<\/p>\n

On the air: Live streaming is available through ESPN+. You must have an ESPN+ subscription to watch the broadcasts.<\/p>\n

How they got here: Scranton won its 11th straight Landmark Conference championship to receive an automatic bid to the tournament. It beat Framingham State, 104-39; Otterbein, 82-43; Bates, 76-59; and Concordia-Moorhead, 67-42; NYU earned an automatic bid by winning its fifth straight University Athletic Association title. It beat Maine-Farmington, 108-44; Messiah, 70-47; Hardin-Simmons, 103-61; and Wisconsin-La Crosse, 72-47.<\/p>\n

Up next: The winner advances to Saturday\u2019s national championship game against the winner of the semifinal between Denison (28-2) and Wisconsin-Oshkosh (28-3). Denison is making its eighth NCAA appearance after earning an at-large bid out of the North Coast Athletic Conference. Oshkosh is making its 21st NCAA appearance after earning an at-large bid from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. It won the 1996 national championship, going 31-0.<\/p>\n

Coaches: Ben O\u2019Brien is in his fourth season at Scranton and has a record of 116-6. Meg Barber is in her seventh season at NYU and has a record of 179-21.<\/p>\n

Players to watch: Scranton- Sr. 5-11 G Kaci Kranson (18.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 49 3-pointers, 40 steals), Jr. 5-11 F Elizabeth Bennett (12.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 40 3-pointers, 35 blocks), Jr. 6-0 F Katie Gorski (11.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 45 steals, 34 blocks), Sr. 5-4 G Kaeli Romanowski (5.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 125 assists, 119 steals), Jr. 5-5 G Meghan Lamanna (10.3 points, 62 3-pointers), Fr. 5-6 G Sophia Talutto (7.8 points, 26 3-pointers, 64 assists, 65 steals); NYU- Sr. 6-0 F Caroline Peper (18.5 points, 108 3-pointers, 98 assists, 76 steals), Jr. 5-10 G Brooke Batchelor (13.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 42 3-pointers, 75 assists, 80 steals), So. 5-9 G Zahra Alexander (12.3 points, 20 3-pointers), Fr. 5-9 G Aila Kaibara (10.1 points, 55 3-pointers, 93 assists), Fr. 5-6 G Olivia Lagao (8.6 points, 51 3-pointers), Jr. 6-0 F Yasmene Clark (7.6 points, 10.4 rebounds), Jr. 5-9 G Eden Williamson (3.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 55 steals).<\/p>\n

Noteworthy: These teams have been on a collision course all season. \u2026 NYU ranks first in Division III in scoring offense (88.2), assists per game (20.5), 3-pointers per game (10.9) and second in scoring margin (36.3), 3-point percentage (36.8) and turnover margin (12.24). Scranton ranks first in scoring defense (42.6), scoring margin (38.4), turnovers per game (9.6), assist\/turnover ratio (2.09) and second in scoring offense (81.0), field goal percentage (46.2) and assists per game (20.1). \u2026 The Violets have 91 consecutive wins, which is the second-longest streak in NCAA basketball history, men\u2019s or women\u2019s, behind UConn women\u2019s 111-game streak (2014-17). Their last loss came March 11, 2023, to Transylvania University in the Elite Eight, 79-63. \u2026 NYU also is trying to become the second Division III team to win three consecutive titles. Washington University, Mo., won four from 1998-2001. \u2026 The Violets also won the national title in 1997. This is their 25th NCAA appearance (53-24). \u2026 Scranton is making its 38th NCAA appearance, the most in Division III women\u2019s basketball. It has a 79-40 tournament record. \u2026 This is the Lady Royals\u2019 11th trip to the Final Four (10 NCAA, 1 AIAW). They won the championship in 1985. \u2026 The teams have met six times, all in the NCAA tournament, with NYU holding a 4-2 edge. Scranton won in the 1993 Sweet 16 and the 1999 Elite Eight. NYU won in the 1996 Sweet 16, 1997 Final Four, 2022 Sweet 16 and 2024 Elite Eight. \u2026 Peper was University Athletic Association Player of the Year and a first-team all-star. Bachelor was UAA Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team selection. Alexander and Clark were UAA second-teamers and Kaibara was honorable mention. \u2026 Peper leads Division III in 3-point attempts (290) and is second in 3-pointers made (108). \u2026 Kranson repeated as Landmark Conference Player of the Year. She has 1,987 career points, which ranks first in conference history and second in program history. Romanowski was Landmark Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-star, while Bennett, Gorski and Lamanna were second-team choices. Talutto was Landmark Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n

\u2014 SCOTT WALSH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The University of Scranton\u2019s Katie Gorski drives for a basket against Bates College in the NCAA Division III…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2300,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-142046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-college-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}