No. 2 Scranton's balance and tenacious defense lifted the Royals to a 60-52 victory over No. 1 NYU, ending the Violets' 91-game winning streak and landing the Royals in Saturday's national championship game. They will face No. 8 Denison since the Big Red rolled past No. 4 UW-Oshkosh in Friday's first national semifinal.

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The night started on the right foot for the defending national champions when Caroline Peper hit a three-pointer seven seconds into the game to give NYU a 3-0 lead. The Royals dominated the rest of that period, holding the Violets to two points the rest of the way while getting six points apiece from Meghan Lamanna and Elizabeth Bennett. Scranton outrebounded NYU 18-4 in the first period and scored eight second-chance points, including a three from Lamanna that gave Scranton a 17-5 lead after one period.

Scranton pushed its lead to 16 on Lamanna's jumper with under four minutes to play in the second quarter, but the Violets built some momentum before the halftime break on Yasmene Clark's layup and Brook Batchelor's fastbreak three pointer. That momentum carried over into the second half as the Violets held Scranton to one free throw for the first five minutes of the third period and pulled within three at 31-28 following threes from Peper and Olivia Lagao.

Scranton called timeout to regroup and immediately responded, with Lamanna nailing a three pointer to start a streak of seven consecutive made field goals. The Royals ended the period with Sophia Talutto splashing a rainbow three, and then Kaeli Romanowski stealing the ball at half court and finding Kaci Kranson for a layup. Despite the Violets' surge, Scranton ended the third period with a 14-point lead.

The Violets had one more run left in the fourth quarter, with Peper and Lago again going back-to-back with three-pointers. Lagao's three from the top of the arc cut Scranton's lead to 56-52 with 46 seconds left. The Violets were forced to foul Scranton, and Talutto split a pair a free throws, and NYU came up empty on its next possession. Lamanna capped her brilliant night with two free throws to put the game away. 

Lamanna finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in a full 40 minutes, and Romanowski dazzled with 14 points and 16 rebounds for Scranton (32-0).

"I'm just glad that everyone got a chance to see what we've been seeing since she arrived at Scranton," said Royals head coach Ben O'Brien afer the game. "I've never seen a player impact the game quite like Kaeli does." 

Caroline Peper scored 19 points on 7-for-23 shooting for NYU (29-1), and the Violets hit 10 three pointers, setting a new Tournament record with 58 over five games.

Scranton will play for its second national championship on Saturady, and its first since beating New Rochelle in the 1985 national championship game. The Royals faithful who traveled south to Salem will be rewarded with one more game, as will the Royals players who are enjoying the journey.

"The environment here is just great. The second we got here, from practice to walk-through, and then when we showed up for the game, we had so much support from our families, the lacrosse team, a bunch of coaches and our athletic department traveled with us, and that was huge," said Lamanna. "We made it a point in the beginning to just soak it all in. Not everyone gets this kind of opportunity."

Fast start, big win for Big Red

Anelly Mad-Toingué and the Denison defense held UW-Oshkosh to 19 points in the first half of Friday night's national semifinal matchup. Photo by Brian Bishop, d3photography.comIn t

No 8 Denison started fast and rolled past No. 4 UW-Oshkosh, 82-61, adding one more "first" to a season full of them for the Big Red -- first appearance in a national championship game.

While the Titans were making their second straight national semifinal appearance, and Denison has never been past the Round of 16 prior to this season, the Big Red looked comfortable on the big stage from the opening tip off. Molly Dorighi stole the ball from Oshkosh on the opening possession and scored a layup, Abby Cooch added four straight points, and Ada Taute had a steal and score that chased the Titans into a quick timeout trailing 10-2. 

Coming out of that timeout, Taute scored another layup and then drained back-to-back threes, pushing Denison's lead to 20-2 and forcing another UWO timeout. The Big Red finished the first quarter ahead 22-7 and held a 15-5 rebounding advantage. The second quarter featured more of the same, with Brooke Toigo hitting a pair of threes and Violet Mitchell capping the half with a last-second layup that pushed Denison's advantage to 42-19. While Oshkosh held its opponents to 47 points per game all season, Denison nearly equaled that in the first half.

Oshkosh played better in the second half, as WIAC MVP Paige Seckar scored seven points quickly and Sammi Beyer hit a jumper that pulled the Titans within 16 at 46-30 midway through the third period. But Adelyn Moore responded with a three and a Brooke Toigo's jumper pushed Denison's lead back to 21 points. In the fourth quarter, UWO once again cut the deficit to 16 points, only to see Toigo score again, and then Cooch banked in a three as the shot clock expired to take Denison's lead to 21 points and effectively put the game away. UWO started to sub out its starters and both teams played their reserves the final three minutes.

Denison's 82 points was the most scored against UWO all season, and lots of players contributed. Five Big Red players scored double figures, including Toigo and Moore who combined for 23 off Denison's bench. Taute finished a rebound shy of a double-double (12 points, nine rebounds) and Anelly Mad-Toingué posted 10 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks for Denison (29-2). The Big Red shot 50 percent from the floor (30 for 60) and from three (9 for 18).

Sammi Beyer scored 13 points, and Wieman added eight points and eight boards off the bench for Oshkosh (28-4).

Having already beaten one undefeated team to reach Salem, Denison will have to do it again to head back to Ohio as national champions, when the Big Red face Scranton in Saturday's championship game.

"I think we have to trust what got us to this point," said Denison head coach Maureen Hirt. "Obviously, this is a lot of firsts but this team has been battle tested. The NCAC is a tough conference that prepared us for this moment."

Denison will try to be the first NCAC team to win a Division III women's basketball championship since DePauw did it 2013.