SCRANTON, Pa. -- The Bates women's basketball team's NCAA tournament run ended Saturday in the second round with a 70-49 loss to No. 3 nationally ranked Scranton. Bates finishes the season with a 17-10 overall record, as the Bobcats advanced to at least the second round of the "Big Dance" for the third time in the past four years. 

Sophomore Sarah Hughes (Rumson, N.J.) finished her season on a high note, tallying a team-high 17 points against the Royals (28-1) on 6-9 shooting. She hit 3-5 from three-point range on the evening. Junior Elsa Daulerio (Harpswell, Maine) added 13 points, a team-high nine rebounds, a career-high six assists, and a blocked shot. Senior captain Alexandra Long (Newtown, Pa.) capped off her collegiate career with six points, three assists, two rebounds, and a blocked shot.

Kaci Kranson tallied a double-double for Scranton with 26 points on 10-20 shooting and 13 rebounds. Three Royals finished in double figures scoring, with Meghan Lamanna and Maddie Harnett adding 10 points apiece. Kaeli Romanowski caused problems for the Bates offense, tallying nine steals. She also tallied six points and five assists.

The Bobcats led 11-9 with 5:13 left in the first quarter on a jumper from junior Sophie Spolter (Blacklick, Ohio), but Elizabeth Bennett answered with a three-pointer, giving Scranton the lead for good.

A Daulerio jumper with 2:43 left in the first cut the deficit to 17-13. However, the Royals finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to go up by 11. Then they scored the first 11 points of the second quarter, doubling their lead. The combined 18-0 run finally ended when Hughes tallied Bates' first points of the second quarter on a jumper with 3:31 left until halftime.

Bates found themselves down 40-20 at halftime.

The second half proved to be a lot closer, as the Bobcats matched the Royals point-for-point in the third quarter, being outscored by the slim margin of 19-18. Then the fourth quarter was dead even, with both teams tallying 13 points. But the closest Bates got in the second half was to within 15 points on a Hughes three-pointer with 7:17 remaining in the third. Scranton promptly answered with a 7-0 run to go up by 22. 

Scranton advances to play Johns Hopkins in next week's "Sweet 16."