WBB Neighbors
Joe Mattis

Women's Basketball Will Nowadly, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

No. 2 Gannon Women’s Basketball Powers Past Mansfield, 91-65 (Video/Photos)

Sophomore Morgan Neighbors tied a career game-high 15 points in the No. 2 Gannon Lady Knights' 91-65 win over Mansfield Tuesday


ERIE, Pa. - To open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover action, the No. 2 Gannon women's basketball team utilized a total team-effort to defeat the Mansfield Mountaineers, 91-65, on Tuesday evening at the Hammermill Center. The Lady Knights improve to 10-0 on the season, while the Mountaineers drop to 0-9. The victory extends the Lady Knights' win streak on home court to 22 consecutive regular-season games.

All eleven Lady Knights managed to contribute offensively, while each posted double digits in minutes played. The Lady Knight reserves added 37 points to the team's total compared to the Mountaineers' 19 points.

The difference in the game was attributed to the Lady Knights' shooting success. For the second straight game, the Lady Knights shot over 50 percent from the field to open the game while their opponent struggled in the mid-20s. From the field, the Lady Knights opened the game shooting 57.6 percent (19-33) in the opening half only to match their effort in the second half with a 51.6 percent (16-31) to finish the game at 54.7 (35-64). The Lady Knights' 54.7-performance from the field was their highest shooting-percentage of the season.

Three Lady Knights reached double digits en route to the team's tenth win of the season. Junior Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J./Marist) led the Lady Knights for the fourth straight game, registering 16 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Morgan Neighbors (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) tied a career game-high with 15 points, while setting a new career standard off five rebounds. Junior Brittany Batts (Leesburg, Va./Loudon County) added 12 points with a block and a steal.

Mansfield was led by Jena Matter with 16 points and 13 rebounds followed by Maria Kelleher with 15 points. As a team, the Mountaineers shot 33.8 percent (22-65) on the evening after shooting 25 (8-32) in the first half and 42.4 (14-33) in the second half.

Gannon controlled the paint, outscoring the Mountaineers, 44-18. In the battle of the boards, the Lady Knights held a slight advantage of 42-37.

Holding a 12-9 edge, the Lady Knights managed to double up on Mansfield, 24-9, off a 12-0 run that included threes by Batts and senior Kelley Sundberg (Mansfield, Conn./E.O. Smith) with 13:59 remaining. The Lady Knights widened their lead to 15 off a shot beyond the arc by Berchtold, 29-14.

The Mountaineers whittled away at the Lady Knights' lead with a 5-0 run capped by a three from Kelleher with 8:17 left, moving within 10 of the lead, 29-19. A three by junior Mollie Sebald (Broadview Heights, Ohio/Holy Name) followed by a layup by Blake extended the Lady Knights' edge to 38-21 with under five remaining.

Following a missed attempt from behind the arc in the waning seconds of the opening half, freshman Mikayla Deguire (Watervliet, N.Y./Watervliet) located the rebound and fed the ball inside to Neighbors, who completed the play with a layup for a Lady Knights' 49-32 lead heading into the break.

Only 18 seconds into the second half, Batts gave the Lady Knights a 52-32 lead off a deep three. To open the half, the Lady Knights bolted out the gate, going on a 7-0 run including four points by Sundberg to go along with Batts' three.

In the next 4:34, the two teams went basket-for-basket with the Lady Knights bouncing between a 24- and 22-point lead. Off a missed Mansfield jumper, freshman Brianna Brennan (Woodhaven, Mich./Woodhaven) hit a jumper off an assist by Neighbors for a Gannon 66-40 lead with 12:50 remaining. A quick strike by Mansfield seconds later was deflated by a Neighbors' three-pointer.

Neither team connected in the next 2:08 until back-to-back Mountaineers' fouls put senior Jen Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) at the line each time with the senior hitting all four shots for a 30-point lead, 78-48, with 6:38 left.

In the closing 4:58 of the contest, Neighbors managed to score seven of the Lady Knights' final 10 points including a three pointer with 1:56 remaining to score the last Lady Knights' basket of the evening for a 91-60 lead.

The Mountaineers managed to score the final five points of the game, putting the Lady Knights' final margin of victory at 26 for a 91-65 final score.  

The 91 points scored by the Lady Knights was the highest total since the team's 90-84 win over Glenville State on Nov. 16, 2013.

Gannon returns to the Hammermill Center on Wednesday, Dec. 18, for their second PSAC crossover in consecutive days. As part of the cross-divisional doubleheader, the Lady Knights will face the Lock Haven Lady Eagles at 5:30 p.m.




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