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ERIE, Pa. – The No. 8 Gannon women's basketball team raced out to a 20-point lead during the first half and held off a late charge by No. 22 Bloomsburg for a 72-68 victory Friday night at the Hammermill Center. The verdict extended the Lady Knights win streak to 11 straight games.

Gannon moved to 4-1 against Top-25 teams this season, falling only to top-ranked Ashland at the Disney Tip-Off Classic. The Lady Knights have also defeated a pair of teams listed among others receiving votes at the time of competition.

Friday's contest looked like it was going to be a laugher in the first half after the Lady Knights produced three runs of at least seven straight points. Gannon shot 50 percent (16-32) from the field while hitting six three-pointers to assume a 44-28 lead at the break.

The Lady Knights quickly opened a 14-4 lead with a 9-0 burst. Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J./Marist) had back-to-back baskets, before Doriyon Glass (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) capped the run with an old-fashion three-point play on a driving lay-up.

A 7-0 run moments later pushed the Gannon advantage to 26-9 with 9:27 left in the first half. Leading 18-9, Brittany Batts (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) and Sebald sandwiched two Blake free throws with a couple of long-range bombs.

Bloomsburg clawed back within 26-14, but Gannon responded with eight consecutive points to grab its biggest lead of the evening at 34-14 with 5:15 showing on the first-half clock. Jennie Thies (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern) scored the first five points of the run, before another Batts' triple gave the Lady Knights a 20-point lead.

The visitors again fought back to close the deficit to 13 points, but another Sebald three-pointer with 37 seconds remaining capped the first-half scoring and sent the Lady Knights to the break with a 16-point advantage.

The second half was a completely different ball game. Bloomsburg limited Gannon to 31.6-percent shooting and allowed the Lady Knights to attempt only four three-pointers during the final 20 minutes. The Huskies needed only 2:07 to cut the deficit into single digits and climbed within six points at the 14:07 mark. In all, the visitors opened the half with an 18-8 run over the first six minutes.

Bloomsburg kept the pressure on and later used an 8-0 run to grab its first lead since scoring the first four points of the game. Kayla Oxenrider started and capped the rally with a pair of three-pointers. Her second gave the Huskies a 59-58 lead with 6:49 to play.

Neither team was able to produce a lead larger than three points the rest of the way until the final points of the game. Trailing 68-65, Blake was fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound and buried both freebies.

Gannon then forced back-to-back turnovers and Blake was fouled again. The sophomore forward hit both attempts again, giving the Lady Knights the lead back at 69-68 with 1:14 remaining.

Bloomsburg was unsuccessful with three-point attempts during its next two possessions. The last one was rejected by Jen Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel). Gannon responded with a Glass free throw after the first miss and two free throws by Blake after the second miss to ice the victory with 13 ticks remaining.

Sebald led all scorers with a career-high 21 points, four rebounds and three steals off the bench. The sophomore hit 7-of-12 shots, including 4-of-6 from long range.

Blake narrowly missed her eighth career double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Entering the game as a 59-percent free throw shooter, she converted 10-of-14 attempts from the line.

Sebald and Blake led a Gannon bench that out-scored Bloomsburg's bench 42-10. Batts completed the Lady Knights' double-digit scorers with 10 points.

Gannon shot 43.1 percent (22-51) from the field, 38.9 percent (7-18) from three-point range and 77.8 percent (21-27) from the free throw line.

Catherine Noack led Bloomsburg with 20 points. Oxenrider and Dana Wieller added 18 and 12 points, respectively.

Bloomsburg shot 42.1 percent (24-57) from the floor, 36.7 percent (11-30) from behind the arc and 100 percent (9-9) from the charity stripe. The Huskies finished at 51.9 percent (14-27) from the field and 50 percent (7-14) from long range during the final 20 minutes.

Gannon improved to 12-1 overall and remained perfect in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) at 6-0 with its 11th consecutive victory. It's the program's longest win streak since the 2009-10 NCAA Division II Final Four team ripped off 37 straight to start the season. Bloomsburg dropped to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in conference action.