ERIE, Pa. - The No. 3 Gannon women's basketball team placed four starters in double digits and rolled to a 91-70 victory against Clarion Saturday afternoon before a Pink Zone crowd of 2,085 fans. As a result, the Lady Knights clinched a spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament with four games to play. The squad also tied the school record for victories in a season (26), accomplished twice before by the 1987-88 and 2008-09 teams.

Saturday's verdict was Gannon's 36th consecutive regular-season victory, sixth straight win over Clarion, 10th consecutive home victory and 42nd straight win when leading at halftime. The Lady Knights now own the school record for the longest win streak in school history regardless of sport, breaking the 1992 volleyball team's previous mark of 25 matches.

Gannon guaranteed its 13th consecutive post-season appearance and remained two games ahead of Indiana (Pa.), who hosts Mercyhurst Saturday night. The Lady Knights haven't missed the post-season since the 1996-97 campaign.

Head coach Cleve Wright's squad wasted little time jumping on the visiting Golden Eagles, who upset No. 23 California (Pa.) 93-83 Thursday night at home. Gannon used a 13-4 run to assume a 16-7 lead five minutes into the contest. Four Lady Knights scored during the run, capped by Carrie Nolan's (Girard, Pa./Girard) three-pointer.

Clarion battled back with nine consecutive points, tying the contest at 16 on Aleya Miller's lay-up at the 13:04 mark. The Golden Eagles hit three straight shots while the Lady Knights were 0-of-3 with two turnovers during the run.

Gannon then answered with a 9-0 run of its own. Reserve spark plug Julie Kleber (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) ignited the rally with a three-pointer and hit another one 1:07 later. The lead extended to 43-23 after a 15-1 run late in the half. The Lady Knights held the Golden Eagles without a field goal for six minutes and 54 seconds until Miller hit a jumper with 45 seconds left in the half.

Tiffany Crocker's (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) lay-up at the buzzer sent the Lady Knights into the halftime locker room with a 47-25 lead.

Clarion made one final run in the second half. The Golden Eagles scored 11 straight points to claw within 55-47 at the 13:15 mark. The visitors out-scored the Lady Knights 22-8 in the first 6:45 of the second half.

Gannon led 57-49 when it slowly began extending its lead throughout the final 12 minutes. The Lady Knights had a 34-21 scoring edge during that time span, eventually assuming their biggest lead of the afternoon (91-68) on Caitlyn Lowe's (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) three-pointer with 1:26 to play. Two Clarion free throws with 1:02 remaining accounted for the final 91-70 score.

Kristina Freeman (Yonkers, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) led all scorers with 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists. The senior guard reached the 20-point plateau for the sixth time this season. Nolan recorded a season-high 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Tabron finished with 16 points and six rebounds, aided by an 8-of-12 chart from the free throw line. Crocker was nearly perfect from the point, scoring a career-high 14 points and dishing out a season-high nine assists without a turnover in 37 minutes.

Gannon shot 45.5 percent (30-66) from the field, 44 percent (11-25) from three-point range and 83.3 percent (20-24) from the free throw line.

Lizzie Suwala followed up her 31-point performance Thursday night against California (Pa.) with 21 points against Gannon. The senior guard netted 19 of her 21 points in the second half. Rachel Graeff and Bethany Koch added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Clarion shot 41.8 percent (28-67) from the floor, 29.4 percent (5-17) from behind the arc and 69.2 percent (9-13) from the charity stripe.

Gannon, ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division II and No. 1 in the Atlantic region, remained undefeated at 26-0 overall and 10-0 in the PSAC Western Division. Clarion dropped to 12-11 overall and 3-7 in conference play. The Lady Knights begin their final regular-season road swing Wednesday, February 17 at Edinboro. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

For a complete box score from Saturday's Gannon-Clarion women's basketball game, please click here.