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ERIE, Pa. - In a battle for first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Division, the No. 3 Gannon women's basketball team fell to Edinboro, 69-57, at the Hammermill Center on Wednesday evening. The Lady Knights were unable to overcome an early Fighting Scots' lead to open the game, snapping the team's 26-game unbeaten streak on home court. The Lady Knights slide back to second place in the West Division at 11-2 and 22-2 overall, while the Fighting Scots move into first in the division at 11-1 and 17-5 on the season.
For the second consecutive game, junior Nettie Blake (Jersey City, N.J./Marist) led the Lady Knights with 22 points and 11 rebounds, collecting her seventh double-double of the season and 18th of her career. Senior Jen Papich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) added 11 points with seven rebounds, while fellow senior Kelley Sundberg (Mansfield , Conn./E.O. Smith) chipped in eight points and seven rebounds. Papich also registered a career game-high five blocks along with five assists and two steals in 37 minutes of action.
In the contest, the Lady Knights shot 35.5 percent from the field (22-62). The Lady Knights struggled in the opening 20, shooting 23.3 percent from the field (7-30) and 8.3 percent from beyond the arc. Their long-range woes carried over to the second half, as the Lady Knights only hit one of eight attempts to finish the game at 10 percent (2-20) with the long ball. At the foul line, the Lady Knights shot 61.1 percent (11-18).
Four of the five Fighting Scots' starters reached double figures with leading scorer Valerie Majewski tallying 17 points followed by Laurel Lindsay with 16, Lauren Hippo with 14 and Aignee' Freeland with 13. Lindsay and Freeland also pulled down eight rebounds. The Fighting Scots only used two reserves, tallying three total points including a lone second-half point.
The Fighting Scots shot 42.9 percent from the field (24-56) in the contest, going 7-17 with the three-ball. In the opening half, the Fighting Scots buried 50 percent from long range to help create a gap to open the game.
With the score tied at 4-4 after the opening 1:13, the Fighting Scots went on a 10-0 run capped by a three from Majewski with 15:48 remaining. A layup by Papich pulled the Fighting Scots' lead to single digits, 14-6, before a trey by Hippo reestablished the Fighting Scots' lead at double digits.
A 10-3 Fighting Scots' run pushed their lead to 18, 10-28, with 9:01 on the clock. Neither team scored in the next 2:17 until Blake cut inside with a layup following a missed Gannon opportunity. Blake's layup was answered by a three from Lindsay with 6:04 left to push the Fighting Scots to a 31-12 lead.
Despite outscoring the Fighting Scots, 12-6, to close out the first half, the Lady Knights faced their largest halftime deficit of the season, 37-21.
Facing a 16-point gap to open the half, the Lady Knights managed to whittle Edinboro's lead down to eight, 35-43, with 13:02 on the clock. A 5-0 Fighting Scots' run extended their lead to 48-35.
Just under the halfway mark of the second half, the Lady Knights pulled the Fighting Scots' advantage back to single digits off a Papich jumper, 48-39. The Fighting Scots came right back after a successful visit to the foul line by Lindsay with 7:53 remaining.
Scoring the Lady Knights' next five points, Blake managed to pull her team within six of the Fighting Scots with 6:15 left, 52-46. For the Lady Knights, this would be the closest they would get to the Fighting Scots' lead. The early first-half runs by the Fighting Scots were too much to overcome in the end.
The Fighting Scots broke the game open off a 14-2 run in a span of 4:59 including back-to-back threes by Hippo. In the final seconds, a three by sophomore Morgan Neighbors (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) limited the Fighting Scots' lead to 10 before Majewski punched in a pair of free throws to seal the 69-57 win over the Lady Knights.
On the boards, the Fighting Scots held a 38-37 advantage over the Lady Knights. The Fighting Scots managed to convert the Lady Knights' 17 turnovers into 17 points.
Gannon next travels to Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday, Feb. 15, with a 5:30 p.m. tip.
GAME NOTES: Edinboro improves to 29-19 in the all-time series and 11-13 at the Hammermill Center… The Lady Knights' 26 consecutive wins on home court was the second longest active streak in NCAA Division II.
