Box Score
Game Highlights & Post-Game Interviews
ERIE, Pa. - The No. 2 Gannon women's basketball team used a late-second half surge to defeat crosstown Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West-Division rival the Mercyhurst Lakers, 69-57, on Saturday evening at the Hammermill Center. The Lady Knights continue their win streak, moving to 8-0 on the season and 4-0 in divisional play, while the Lakers drop to 1-6 overall and 1-2 in the league.
Dropping ten of their last 11 games at the Hammermill Center, the Lady Knights' home court has not treated the Lakers kindly throughout the years. The Lady Knights have captured five-straight games against the Lakers since the 2011-12 season, extending their all-time series to a 54-26 lead.
Reaching double digits for the Lady Knights were junior Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J. / Marist) and senior Jen Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel). Blake led the team with 19 points and a season-high 12 rebounds to record her third double-double of the season. Papich finished with seven rebounds and 14 points, reaching double digits for the sixth game this season. Papich and Blake added two blocks each.
Senior Kelley Sundberg (Mansfield, Conn. / E.O. Smith) registered seven points, four rebounds and five assists. Redshirt junior Doriyon Glass (Boardman, Ohio / Boardman) tied a career-high four steals, adding a season-high five assists and four points.
To open the day, the Lady Knights hit 29-percent (9-31) from the field in the first half. The Lady Knights warmed up in the second stanza, shooting 37.1-percent (13-35) to finish the day at 33.3-percent (22-66).
Alayna White led the Lakers with 19 points followed by Alex Artise with 13 and Adrienne Kloecker with 12.. Artise and White picked up eight rebounds each, while Kloecker registered a team-high seven assists. The Lakers shot 40.4 percent (21-52) on the day after opening day shooting 52.2 percent (12-23).
The battle at the boards was quite close with the Lady Knights holding a 39-36 edge. The Lady Knights forced the Lakers into 25 turnovers, converting to 19 points. The Lady Knights' bench held a 16-3 advantage over the Lakers.
After erasing a Lakers' lead to open the game, the Lady Knights captured their first lead off a Blake layup, 8-6. With the scored tied at 8-8, the Lakers and Lady Knights exchanged threes before Blake struck once again with a quick layup to give the Lady Knights a 13-11 lead with 13:17 left.
On a 6-2 run including three from redshirt freshman Lanise Saunders (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Taylor Allderdice), the Lady Knights extended their lead to 26-18 with 4:26 remaining. The Lakers would go on a run of their own to recapture the lead. A 9-0 run gave the Lakers a 27-26 edge over the Lady Knights with six points from White. With the score tied at 30-30, Papich forced a turnover before hitting a deep three to give the Lady Knights a 33-30 lead heading into the break.
Blake took the momentum from the first half into the next with six-straight points to give the Lady Knights a 39-34 lead. A jumper by Sundberg extended the Lady Knights' lead to seven, 41-34, before the Lakers went on a 5-0 run with 16:08 left.
Leading 50-43 with 13:04 remaining, the Lady Knights watched it dissolve to one point. In the next 6:43, the Lakers went on a 9-3 run to pull back within one.
Gannon answered back with a 10-1 run to take a 63-53 lead with 3:18 left, adding a safe cushion for the remaining time. The Lady Knights capped their run with a three by junior Brittany Batts (Leesburg, Va. / Loudon County) followed by a Papich layup. In the final 2:12 of the game, Papich closed out the Lady Knights' offense, scoring the team's final six points including four from the free-throw line to seal the 69-57 win.
Gannon will travel to Le Moyne for its final non-conference matchup before the rest of slate turns to the PSAC. The Lady Knights will face the Dolphins on Saturday, Dec. 14 with the tip set at noon.
