INDIANA, Pa – The Gannon women's basketball team dropped a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division contest on the road at Indiana (Pa.) Wednesday evening by a 79-61 score.
The loss snaps the Lady Knights PSAC Western Division winning streak at 24. IUP was the last team to defeat Gannon (65-52) back on January 24, 2009. After that loss the Lady Knights rolled off 10 straight wins to close out the 2008-09 season before going a perfect 14-0 last season.
Despite shooting 57 percent from behind the arc, the Lady Knights turned the ball over 27 times, leading to 25 points for IUP. The Crimson Hawks also took 63 shots compared to 46 for Gannon.
Jennifer Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) started the game with a jumper in paint before Kelsey McCoy (Sylvania, Ohio / Sylvania Northview) hit a pair of free throws to give Gannon the early 4-0 lead.
IUP's Katelyn Marshall and Julie Kleber (Suffern, N.Y. / Suffern) traded three-point baskets before Eryn Withers scored on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at nine. A three-pointer from Caitlyn Lowe (Gettysburg, Pa. / Gettysburg) temporarily halted the run, but IUP scored eight of the next 10 points including a pair of three's to take a 17-14 lead midway through the first half.
At the 8:30 mark IUP started a 13-2 run that lasted just under four minutes. Four different Crimson Hawks scored during the run including seven points from Brianna Johnson. A three from Kleber cut the lead to single digits, but IUP would respond with a layup just 20 seconds later. The Crimson Hawks would hold a 44-29 lead at the break after Lacey Claar hit a three as time expired.
The Crimson Hawks shot 56 percent in the first half and held an 18-16 advantage in rebounds. Gannon had 10 points in the paint compared to 20 for IUP.
Gannon couldn't cut into the IUP lead to start the second half, as the Crimson Hawks would hold their largest lead of the game at the 16:33 mark with a 55-34 score.
However, the Lady Knights would start a comeback effort, sparked by an Amanda Dacek (Middleburg Heights, Ohio / Berea) layup. Lowe would hit a three followed by a bucket from Jessie Tamerlano (North Royalton, Ohio / North Royalton). A steal and score from Papich would cut the lead to 15 with 11 minutes to play.
Gannon would hold the Crimson Hawks without a field goal for more than a nine minute span but never cut the lead to single digits as a three pointer from Marshall ended the drought for IUP and put the score at 65-52 with just over four minutes to play.
The Crimson Hawks would seal the game over the final four minutes by hitting four straight shots including Marshall's fourth three of the game. IUP was also 5-of-6 from the free-throw line down the stretch to earn the 79-61 victory.
Papich narrowly missed her second double-double of the season with 15 points and nine rebounds in the game. The true freshman was 6-of-8 from the field with four steals and two assists.
Dacek, Kleber and Danielle Tucker (Rochester, N.Y. / East) each added eight points, with Tucker grabbing eight boards.
No Gannon player had more than two assists in the game as IUP held an 18-11 advantage on the scoresheet.
IUP's Marshall led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Johnson added a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Gannon falls to 7-5 this season and is 0-1 in the PSAC Western Division. IUP improves to 9-4 with its first conference win. Gannon returns home on Saturday, January 15 to host Lock Haven at 1 p.m.
For a complete box score from tonight's Gannon-IUP women's basketball game, please click here.
