SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton women's basketball team (27-2) used a decisive 14-3 fourth quarter run to take control of the game and outlasted the Ohio Northern Polar Bears (19-10) by a score of 60-54 in a thrilling NCAA Tournament Second Round matchup on Saturday evening at the John Long Center in Scranton.

With the victory, the Lady Royals advance to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons and will battle Johns Hopkins next weekend at a site and time to be determined. Johns Hopkins was a 77-75 winner over Christopher Newport in other Second Round action on Saturday.

Ohio Northern led 46-43 with 6:43 to play when sophomore Kaeli Romanowski (Lake Ariel, Pa./Western Wayne) sank a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one and following a turnover on the other end, fellow sophomore Kaci Kranson (Scranton, Pa./Holy Cross) collected an offensive rebound and hit a layup for a 47-46 lead at the 5:54 mark. Romanowski and Kranson each sank a pair of free throws with under a minute to play that stretched the lead to eight at 57-49.

Scranton went 7-of-8 from the line over the final 0:47 to ice the victory.

Kranson's layup in the first quarter gave the Lady Royals a 9-6 lead in the early stages before the Polar Bears closed the quarter on a 10-3 run and hit consecutive threes to take an 18-12 lead after one. The two teams traded baskets for much of the second quarter and Ohio Northern held a 28-23 edge when senior Maddie Hartnett (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) sank a jumper and Romanowski followed with a jumper of her own that cut the deficit to one at 28-27 at the half.

Graduate student Hannah Angelini (Baldwin Place, N.Y./Somers) buried a three to open the scoring in the third quarter and sparked a 15-5 run that resulted in a 42-33 lead with 5:36 to play. The 42-33 score held for nearly three minutes, but Ohio Northern then began to battle back and scored the final four points of the quarter to draw within two at 43-41. Scranton started the afore-mentioned fourth quarter run with Romanowski's free throws and led 51-49 when Hartnett hit a layup off a feed from Kranson that made it a four-point game with 1:41 to play.

The Lady Royals held the Polar Bears scoreless for a span of 4:35 during the decisive run.

Kranson led the hosts with 17 points and added six rebounds, while Hartnett and Romanowski recorded 12 points apiece. Angelini added eight points, six rebounds and two assists.

Chloee Glenn had 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting to pace the Polar Bears and Scranton held leading scorer Brynn Serbin (15.0 ppg) to 12 points on 4-of-18 shooting.

Scranton shot 39.2% (20-of-51) from the floor, 37.5% (6-of-16) from long range and 87.5% (14-of-16) at the charity stripe. Ohio Northern was 20-of-53 (37.7%) from the field, 6-of-21 (28.6%) from deep and 8-of-12 (66.7%) at the free throw line.

Head coach Ben O'Brien's team held a 32-27 edge in the rebounding battle behind seven boards from senior Maddy Ryan (Malvern, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) and six apiece from the trio of Angelini, Hartnett and Kranson.

Stay tuned to athletics.scranton.edu and the RoyalAthletics social media platforms for more information on the Sweet 16 as it becomes available.