ERIE, Pa. – Saturday's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opener was simply a gut check for the No. 11 Gannon women's basketball team. The Lady Knights pounded visiting Kutztown on the boards to overcome a sluggish shooting performance and first-half turnovers en route a hard-fought 66-59 victory at the Hammermill Center.
Kutztown took a 24-23 lead into halftime after limiting Gannon to 8-of-28 shooting, including a 3-of-15 chart from three-point range. In addition, the Lady Knights turned the ball over 15 times.
Although Gannon continued to have trouble find the shooting range during the second half, it was pure intensity that lead to the comeback. The Lady Knights out-rebounded Kutztown 30-19 during the final 20 minutes, including a 15-3 edge on the offensive glass.
The squad also addressed the ball-handling issues as Gannon didn't commit a turnover for the first 16 minutes and 10 seconds of the second half. The Lady Knights eventually finished the half with only four miscues.
Trailing 34-31,
Kelsey McCoy's (Sylvania, Ohio/Sylvania Northview) three-pointer from the top of the arc ignited a quick 8-0 run.
Jen Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) followed with a lay-up, before
Kelley Sundberg (Mansfield, Conn./E.O. Smith) drilled a triple to give the Lady Knights a 39-34 advantage with 14:05 remaining.
Another three-pointer from
Candice Hendricks (Randallstown, Md./McDonogh) pushed the Gannon lead to 50-42 at the 10:31 mark. The Lady Knights' biggest lead of the afternoon came at 60-50 after Papich completed an old-fashion three-point play with 5:45 left.
Kutztown momentarily clawed within 62-59 with 1:09 showing on the clock, but Gannon iced the victory with a pair of free throws from both
Brittany Batts (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) and Papich.
Papich had a full line score with a team-high 17 points, six rebounds, a career-high four blocks, three assists and two steals.
Doriyon Glass (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Batts posted 10 points and five rebounds during her first start of the season while McCoy recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds off the bench.
Gannon shot 31.9 percent (23-72) from the field, 25.9 percent (7-27) from three-point range and 72.2 percent (13-18) from the free throw line.
The rebounding was arguably the difference. Ten different Lady Knights grabbed a rebound during Saturday's contest. Gannon's 22 offensive rebounds were the program's most since getting 22 against Mansfield on January 7, 2012. Its 55 total rebounds were the most since grabbing 55 at Clarion on January 16, 2010.
Natalya Lee led all scorers with 20 points for Kutztown despite shooting 7-of-18. Ashley Wood and Aly York chipped in 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Kutztown shot 39.7 percent (23-58) from the floor, 25 percent (4-16) from behind the arc and 56.3 percent (9-16) from the charity stripe.
Gannon improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the PSAC with its fourth consecutive victory overall and fifth straight win against Kutztown. The Golden Bears dropped to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in league play. The Lady Knights conclude the opening weekend of PSAC action Sunday, December 2 against East Stroudsburg at the Hammermill Center. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
