GLENVILLE, W.Va. -
Brittany Batts (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) drilled a career-high eight three-pointers while
Doriyon Glass (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) and
Brianna Brennan (Woodhaven, Mich./Woodhaven) recorded their first career double-doubles as the No. 2 Gannon women's basketball team snapped Glenville State's 27-game home win streak Saturday night with a 90-84 victory.
Glenville State had scored 228 points while winning its opening two games after advancing to the NCAA Tournament second round last season with a 111-87 victory against Shaw in the first round. The Pioneers had been unbeatable at home until Saturday night, winning 27 straight games at Jesse R. Lilly Gymnasium dating back to a 103-94 setback against Concord on November 22, 2011.
Gannon posted the big road victory with a late rally and a defensive effort that held Glenville State 30 points under its scoring average. Trailing 83-80, the Lady Knights scored 10 of the game's last 11 points during the final 2:35 of regulation.
Batts' eighth three-pointer of the evening turned a two-point deficit into an 84-83 Gannon lead with 1:19 to play. Moments later,
Kelley Sundberg's (Mansfield, Conn./E.O. Smith) steal led to a
Jen Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) lay-up and forced the home team to call time-out with 55 seconds left.
Following a Glenville State free throw that cut the lead to 86-84, Papich clinched the victory with a three-point play. Her lay-up and free throw pushed the Gannon lead to 89-84 with 35 ticks left. A Sundberg free throw with 17 seconds remaining capped the scoring as the Gannon defense forced the Pioneers to miss their last five shots.
Saturday's contest featured 16 lead changes and nine ties. Gannon's largest leads came at the beginning of each half. The Lady Knights raced out to an 8-0 lead 2:21 into the contest. Batts sandwiched a Glass lay-up with a pair of three-point bombs to account for the opening run.
Glenville State gained its first lead at the 12:08 mark of the first half, before the two teams exchanged the lead seven times and were deadlocked four times during the remainder of the half.
Morgan Neighbors (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) snapped the last tie of the opening half with a three-pointer and converted a lay-up with 10 seconds left to give the Lady Knights a 53-50 lead at the intermission.
The second half began like the first with Gannon scoring the first seven points to assume its biggest lead of the evening at 60-50. Batts hit another triple 26 seconds into the action.
Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J./Marist) and Glass followed with lay-ups.
Glenville State answered with a 10-0 blitz to knot the score at 60. Outside of a brief Gannon five-point lead at the 13:46 mark, neither team was able to create a lead bigger than three points the rest of the way until Papich's three-point play with 35 seconds left.
Batts led all scorers with 24 points, finishing two shy of her career-high. Her eight three-pointers fell one shy of the school record set by Jacki Windon against Roberts Wesleyan on November 15, 2000.
Two Lady Knights recorded double-doubles for the second time in the season's first two games. Glass recorded her first career double-dip with 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Brennan produced her first career double-double during her second career game with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Papich completed Gannon's double-digit scorers with 11 points.
Gannon shot 45.9 percent (34-74) from the field, 42.9 percent (9-22) from three-point range and 50 percent (13-26) from the free throw line.
Kenyona Simmons headlined the Glenville State unit with 19 points. Ashleigh Fossett and Keyanna Tate added 18 and 12 points, respectively. Kenyell Goodson recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Glenville State shot 35.5 percent (27-76) from the floor, 34.3 percent (12-35) from behind the arc and 69.2 percent (18-26) from the charity stripe.
Gannon improved to 2-0 with Saturday's big regional road victory. Glenville State dropped to 2-1. The Lady Knights open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play Wednesday, November 20 against California (Pa.). It will be a rematch of Gannon's 50-47 victory during last year's NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional championship game. Wednesday's tip time at the Hammermill Center is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
