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ERIE, Pa. - Five Lady Knights reached double digits, as the No. 5 Gannon women's basketball team dominated Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Division opponent Pitt-Johnstown, 86-47, at the Hammermill Center on Wednesday evening. The Lady Knights improved to 18-1 overall and 7-1 in divisional play, while the Lady Cats fall to 6-11 on the season and 3-4 in the division. For head coach
Jim Brunelli, the win marked his 100th career victory.
For the second time this season, five Lady Knights reached double digits. Appearing in her 50th career game for the Maroon and Gold, sophomore
Morgan Neighbors (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) led the Lady Knights with a career game-high 16 points, adding three rebounds, a steal and an assist. Junior
Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J./Marist) followed with 13 points and four rebounds along with two steals and assists each. Junior
Brittany Batts (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) tallied 12 points including a trio of threes.
Junior
Candice Hendricks (Randallstown, Md./McDonogh) scored a season game-high 11 points, while registering three boards and two steals. Junior
Mollie Sebald (Broadview Heights, Ohio/Holy Name) tacked on 10 points to go along with two rebounds and two assists. Senior
Kelley Sundberg (Mansfield, Conn./E.O. Smith) finished with a game-high five assists to record her 502nd career assist, moving her into sixth place on the program's all-time list.
The Lady Knights shot 50.8 percent (32-63) from the field nearly doubling the Lady Cats' shooting-performance of 28.8 percent (17-59). Leading the PSAC in three-point field goals per game (8.4), the Lady Cats could not get their distant shots to fall in, shooting 18.5 percent (5-27) compared to the Lady Knights' shooting 57.1 percent (8-14). The only place the Lady Cats outperformed the Lady Knights was at the free-throw line, as UPJ shot 72.7 percent (8-11) and GU shot 70 percent (14-20).
With a week off from action, the Lady Knights faced a well-rested Lady Cats' squad that featured five players averaging double digits. In the end, only one Lady Cat registered double figures, as reserve Nicole Carman scored 11 points. The Lady Cats' 28.8 shooting percentage from the field was a season low. The Lady Cats' struggles came from their inability to connect from behind the arc, hitting only five of 27 for 18.5 percent for the team's second-worst performance of the season. The Lady Cats entered the contest as the fifth top-scoring team in the PSAC, averaging 8.4 threes per game.
The Lady Knights dominated the first half, holding Pitt-Johnstown to only 16.0 percent (4-25) from the floor with three of their four buckets from the long range. On the other hand, the Lady Knights shot 53.6 percent (15-28) and an impressive 4-for-5 from behind the arc. The Lady Knights managed to turn UPJ's 13 turnovers in the first half into an 11-0 advantage. The Lady Knights controlled play inside the paint with a 20-2 edge.
In the opening two minutes, Pitt-Johnstown managed to capture the lead twice before the Lady Knights took over. Trailing 5-2 following a three by UPJ's Rachel Johnson, the Lady Knights ripped off a 13-0 run ignited by a three from Batts. Sebald's second basket during the span gave the Lady Knights a 10-point lead with 14:38 left.
Leading the Lady Knights with eight points in the opening half, Neighbors' offensive spurt came in a span of 1:54 off a pair of threes and a layup to give Gannon a 24-10 lead with 11:04 remaining. Following Neighbors' run, both teams struggled to connect with Pitt-Johnstown scoring the only points in a span of 5:56 off a trey from the Lady Cats' Olivia Rizzo.
The Lady Knights closed out the opening half on a 16-1 run capped by Hendricks at the line in the closing seconds, as Gannon rode a 43-15 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Lady Knights continued to push their lead. Starting with a jumper by Batts at 18:30, the Lady Knights went on a 14-4 run over a span of 6:29 to take a 60-22 lead, which was capped by a Neighbors' three. During the Lady Knights' offensive attack, the Lady Cats went 1-for-11 from the field and 0-for-3 from the long range. Carman finally stopped the GU run with one of the Lady Cats' five threes on the evening with 12:01 remaining.
With under five minutes remaining, the Lady Knights went back on the attack with a 10-2 run. Hendricks nailed a three with 2:39 left to give the Lady Knights their largest lead of 48 in the game, 84-36. Despite the Lady Cats' late run of seven unanswered points in just over a minute, their fate was sealed back in the third minute of the game, as the Lady Knights captured its largest margin of victory this season, 86-47.
For the 16th game this season, the Lady Knights out-rebounded its opponent. Led by sophomore
Amanda Berchtold (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) with a career game-high six rebounds, the Lady Knights held a 43-35 advantage on the boards. Compiling four rebounds, Blake moved into seventh place (627) on the program's all-time career list.
Following a bye weekend, Gannon returns to divisional play at California (Pa.) on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 5:30 p.m. as part of a PSAC doubleheader.
GAME NOTES: The Lady Knights have won 24 consecutive home games… The meeting between the two squads marked their first conference matchup, as the Lady Cats compete in their inaugural season as PSAC members… The Lady Knights' 39 point margin of victory was the largest since the team's 100-48 win over visiting Ursuline on Nov. 21, 2012… The last time five Lady Knights registered double digits was on Dec. 4, 2013, when the team defeated Slippery Rock, 76-73… The Lady Knights improve to 2-22 in the all-time series against Pitt-Johnstown… Freshman
Brianna Brennan (Woodhaven, Mich./Woodhaven) recorded her 51st point and 50th rebound of her career… Sebald now has 250 career rebounds with two on the evening.
