CALIFORNIA, Pa. - The Gannon women’s basketball team is in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time ever. The Lady Knights out-scored No. 12 Indiana (Pa.) 13-9 in the overtime session and posted a 69-65 victory in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional semifinals hosted by California (Pa.) Saturday evening.
Gannon will face the host school in Monday’s (March 16) championship tilt at 7 p.m. The No. 6 Vulcans easily disposed of the University of Charleston 87-48 in the second semifinal.
The first half was as closely contested as one could be. The teams forged their sixth tie of the first half at 17, before Gannon ended the stanza with an 11-4 run in the final 4:46.
Carrie Nolan’s (Girard, Pa./Girard) three-pointer ignited the run.
Kristina Freeman (Yonkers, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) followed with a three of her own.
Brittany Tabron (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic) then converted a lay-up with 31 seconds left to send the Lady Knights into halftime with a 28-21 lead.
Gannon maintained its lead for the majority of the second half, grabbing its largest lead at 43-32 with 11:01 to play after a jumper from Freeman and three-pointer from Nolan.
IUP slowly chipped away at the lead and set up a dramatic finish to the end of regulation. Trailing 55-51, Lacey Claar nailed a three-pointer with nine seconds left to cut the deficit to 55-54. Gannon made one of two free throws with seven seconds left, before Staci Heberling scored on a driving lay-up at the buzzer to send the game into overtime tied at 56.
The late run did not faze Gannon. The Lady Knights scored the first five points of the overtime session and never led by less than three points the rest of the way. The lead stayed between three and six points until the horn sounded with Gannon posting a 69-65 victory.
Freeman led all scorers with 26 points, hitting 7-of-13 shots and 9-of-12 free throws. Tabron recorded her second consecutive double-double and 17th of her career with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nolan finished with 13 points and extended her streak of consecutive games with at least one three-pointer to 31.
Gannon shot 39.6 percent (19-48) from the field, 32 percent (8-25) from three-point range, and 74.2 percent (23-31) from the free throw line.
Heberling headlined the IUP attack with 14 points and seven rebounds. All-American Jahzinga Tracey netted 11 points, but hit only 3-of-15 shots. Kylie Miller recorded 11 points on 2-of-11 shooting.
IUP shot 28.6 percent (20-70) from the floor, 30.4 percent (7-23) from behind the arc, and 81.8 percent (18-22) from the charity stripe.
Gannon improved to 26-4, tying the school record for victories in a season. Indiana (Pa.) concluded its season at 26-6. The Lady Knights will face California (Pa.) Monday, March 16 in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championship. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
For a complete box score from Saturday’s Gannon-Indiana (Pa.) NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional women’s basketball semifinal game, please
click here.