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ERIE, Pa. - The No. 2 Gannon women's basketball team used a 37-9 run in the final 11 minutes to capture a 95-64 win over the Lock Haven Lady Eagles on Wednesday evening at the Hammermill Center in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover action. The Lady Knights remain undefeated at 11-0 on the season with the Lady Eagles dropping to 1-8 overall.
For the second consecutive game, three Lady Knights reached double digits. A new face led the Lady Knights' offensive attack as senior Jen Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) scored a season-high 22 points, while collecting eight rebounds. Papich added five assists, three blocks and two steals. Leading the team in four previous games, junior Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J./Marist) finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, recording a season-high four steals. Junior Brittany Batts (Leesburg, Va./Loudon County) broke the game open, going 5-for-8 in the second half including three behind the arc. The junior finished the day with 19 points with five threes in a team-high 33 minutes.
The Lady Eagles were led by Marrysa Moyer with game-highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. Both Kelsey Ryan and Sami Lane reached double digits, scoring 11 and 10, respectively.
The Lady Knights shot 48 percent (36-75) from the field after struggling in the early minutes of the opening half. Lock Haven cooled down as the evening went on, opening with a 42.3 shooting percent (11-26) only to finish at 40.4 percent (23-57) for the game.
The Lady Knights finished the day, dominating inside by a 54-30 edge including 30 combined points by Blake, Thies and Saunders inside. The Lady Knights' effort inside was attributed to their team effort off the boards, holding a 47-36 advantage.
Going scoreless in the opening 2:39, the Lady Knights finally hit their fourth shot-attempt to tie the game at three off a deep shot by Papich. Following a jumper by Moyer, the Lady Eagles played with the lead for the next 4:29 until the Lady Knights took their first lead of the game on a Blake layup, 17-16, with 12:16 remaining.
Fighting for control, the Lady Knights finally took over the game off another Blake layup with 11:15 left, 21-20. A 7-2 run capped by a Batts' three gave the Lady Knights a 28-22 lead.
With 5:05 remaining, the Lady Knights scored 12 of the final 15 points of the half heading into the break. Papich scored six of the final dozen for the Lady Knights, as the senior closed out the half with 15 points to give Gannon a 42-29 lead.
Holding a double-digit lead for the opening five minutes of the second half, the Lady Eagles managed to chip away at the Lady Knights' lead, pulling the game within nine at 54-45 off four straight from Moyer. The Lady Eagles' leading scorer was not done, as she pulled her team within three of the Lady Knights, 54-51, with 12:21 left.
Back-to-back layups by sophomore Jennie Thies (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern) extended the Lady Knights' lead to seven, 57-51. Four straight by the Lady Eagles' Lane put her team back within three at the 10:53 mark, 58-55.
From there, the Lady Knights took over.
A 37-9 run to close the game sealed the Lady Knights' 11th victory of the season. In the midst of a 15-0 run, Batts scored eight straight including two shots from behind the arc to put the Lady Knights in the lead, 73-55.
Moyer tried to erase the Lady Knights' run on her own off five unanswered points, which led to an 8-0 solo run by Blake for an 82-60 Gannon lead with 4:13 remaining. In place of Blake, redshirt-freshman Lanise Saunders (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Taylor Allerdice) picked up where the junior left off scoring nine of the Lady Knights' final 11 points, leading to the 95-64 win over the Lady Eagles.
The Hammermill Center has been a tough place for teams to find a road win, as the Lady Knights extended their regular-season win streak on home court to 23 games, dating back to Jan. 11, 2012. The Lady Eagles can relate to the 23 previous outcomes, dropping seven straight to the Lady Knights at the Hammermill Center. With the win, the Lady Knights improve their all-time record to 15-7, winning the last 15 meetings between to the two squads.
The Lady Knights reached the 90-point milestone for the second straight game and third time this season.
Gannon will play their next three PSAC-crossover games on the road with their first stop at Bloomsburg on Saturday, Dec. 21. The Lady Knights will face the Huskies on Saturday afternoon with tipoff set for 1 p.m., as part of a cross-divisional doubleheader.
