ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon women's basketball team dropped a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division contest to Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday afternoon at the Hammermill Center by a 62-56 score. The game served as Gannon's fourth annual Pink Zone game, which works to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer.
Despite shooting 85 percent (17-20) from the free throw line, the Lady Knights 23 turnovers and 39 percent shooting from the field proved too much to overcome against IUP.
In front of its largest crowd this season, the Lady Knights came out strong in the opening three minutes of the game with a 7-0 run. Senior Julie Kleber (Suffern, N.Y. / Suffern) hit a three on Gannon's second possession followed by lay-ups from Caitlyn Lowe (Gettsyburg, Pa. / Gettysburg) and Danielle Tucker (Rochester, N.Y. / East).
After an IUP timeout, Lacey Claar cut the lead to four with a three pointer off a pass from Kaitlyn Marshall. The bucket sparked an 8-0 run for the Crimson Hawks, putting the score at 8-7 at the 13:49 mark. Tucker snapped the run and regained the lead for Gannon with lay-ups on back-to-back trips down the court for the Gannon.
The scoring for both teams was even during the rest of the first half as neither team gained a lead greater than three points. The two teams entered the locker rooms at the break with the score tied at 22.
In the first half, IUP shot just 28 percent from the field compared to 45 percent for Gannon. The Crimson Hawks earned seven second-chance points thanks to seven offensive rebounds. Jennifer Papich (Pittsburg, Pa. / Fox Chapel) recorded three steals in the first 20 minutes.
After netting just seven field goals in the first half, IUP made good on its first four shots of the second half, using an 11-3 run to hold a 33-25 lead over the Lady Knights with 12:51 to play.
While most of IUP's scores in the second half came from the field, the Lady Knights took advantage of their trips to the free throw line, hitting 15-of-16 attempts. During a 13-minute span Gannon made just three field goals, but managed to score 13 points from the charity stripe. At the 6:11 mark, Jessie Tamerlano (North Royalton, Ohio / North Royalton) netted Gannon's third field goal of the half, making the score 47-42. Eryn Withers then extended the Crimson Hawk's lead back to eight with a three pointer.
Gannon scored the game's next five points thanks to a three-pointer from Lowe and two more free throws from Kleber. The three-point difference would be as close as Gannon would come during the second half as IUP hit 10-of-11 free throws in the game's final three minutes to seal the win.
After shooting just 28 percent in the first half, IUP made 52.4 percent of their shots in the second half. Gannon finished at 42.5 percent for the game. Gannon held a 29-26 advantage in rebounds but the Crimson Hawks scored 23 points off turnovers.
Kleber finished with a team-high 13 points, hitting all six of her free throw attempts. Tucker and Lowe both added 12 points. Kelley Sundberg (Mansfield, Conn. / E.O. Smith) dished out four assists and added two steals. Tucker and Lowe both grabbed six rebounds
IUP was lead by Withers' 16 points. Claar added 15 points and two steals. Sarah Pastorek had 12 points and five steals.
Gannon is now 2-2 in Pink Zone games all-time and holds a 9-10 overall record this season. The Lady Knights are 2-6 in conference play. The Crimson Hawks are 14-5 overall and 6-1 in conference.
For a complete HTML box score from today's Gannon-IUP women's basketball game, please click here.
